


Poor Unfortunate Souls

by Basmasadek



Series: Avenging Hunters [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Supernatural, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Case Fic, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Married Castiel/Dean Winchester, Married Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Prank Wars, Protective Team, Superhusbands, Team as Family, hunter husbands, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-21 04:18:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 22,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17635889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Basmasadek/pseuds/Basmasadek
Summary: After The Winchesters got injured on their way to a hunt, Steve and Tony insisted on going with them to help. Things got a little out of hand after that.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, Guys! Hope you didn't forget me! This one is going to be a little shorter than the others. Hope you enjoy anyway!
> 
> I just need to point some things out first:
> 
> -English is not my first language, So if you find any mistakes feel free to point them out.
> 
> \- You can read this one as a stand alone but you will be confused about a few things like how did they meet, situations that happened between them and whatnot, So if you have time I suggest you read the first four parts first. If not, I tried to clarify everything you will need to know as much as possible.
> 
> I hope you enjoy! please comment and tell me what you think.

It started purely by accident.

Tony wasn’t really planning to start a prank war, it wasn’t even his fault! But it just happened and now he won’t back out since it started anyway.

It all begins on an ordinary morning, two months after him and Dean got back from their crazy, bloody adventure through time. He was drinking his coffee peacefully trying to wake up enough to talk, Dean sitting across from him on the table more asleep than awake, while Steve and Cas were by the stove arguing about something Tony wasn’t awake enough to comprehend. The others were awake, busy doing things around the room he didn’t care about.

After his return with Dean from the ‘lost through time’ thing, the team became even more inseparable than before, like no one of them could bare to part from the others anymore. It happened slowly at first, started with Dean and Castiel moving to one of the many rooms in the penthouse with Steve and Tony for comfort, followed soon after by Sam and Natasha claiming another room. Soon enough, each one of the team claimed a room in the penthouse as their own and now they are living in close counters like they do in the bunker. Literally sharing everything. He sometimes found himself wearing Castiel’s socks or something, Nat wearing Sam’s shirts, Steve stealing Dean’s flannels and so on. They were also sharing gear, food and sometimes bathrooms.

It was horrible, terrible and everything he ever wanted. Also, there was Bucky, who immediately hit it off with pretty much everyone like he belonged there from the start. He got along easily with the Winchesters. His friendship with Dean was loud, obnoxious and filled with a lot of name-calling. With Sam, they bonded over rolling their eyes at the idiocy of their brothers and their husbands. He was still in awe with Castiel and every time the angel talked to him he got wide eyed like he couldn’t believe that Cas actually talks to him which was understandable, the angel brought back his arm, he has every right to be awed. Hell, Castiel literally pulled out the arc reactor from his chest along with the sharpenls in one minute. Tony was two seconds away from building a fucking statue for the guy. 

Steve was also brighter. Mentally more relaxed with much less nightmares and even rarer panic attacks. His smiles were easier and more frequent. He was beautiful. Even more than before. Tony didn’t think it was even possible. Bucky coming back, Cas bringing back his arm and removing Tony’s reactor for good probably helped in making Steve like that. Honestly, since the Winchesters crashed their lives they only managed to make it brighter.

Back to the present and when their little civil war started.

Again, it wasn’t his fault. He was still just drinking his coffee and minding his own business when Castiel broke his argument with Steve as his eyes landed on the coffee jar.

“Is that Kopi Luwak?” he asked directing his question at Tony who stared at him blankly trying to figure out what the fuck he just said. Cas rolled his eyes and rephrased. “Civet Coffee?”

“Oh, yeah. One of the most expensive and sought after Coffees in the world.” Tony announced proudly while taking another sip. “My new treasure.”

“Did you know that it’s made from Coffee Cherries literally shit out by an Asian Civet. The digestion process causes the beans to ferment making them an extraordinary quality.”

And that’s how Tony sprayed all the coffee in his mouth right at Dean’s face.

Everyone froze as Dean blinked stupidly at a gaping Tony, trying to process what just happened.

“Did you just spit coffee on me?” Dean asked slowly, looking awake now.

“And now you are awake. You’re welcome.” He answered in a very Tony Stark way and cringed inwardly. He seriously needs to control his mouth.

The next five minutes involved a chuckling Sam and Thor wrestling Dean out of the room to keep him away from strangling Tony, with Castiel wiping the coffee from Dean’s face as he struggled. Meanwhile, Steve, the traitor, was losing it in the background bending backwards as he laughed like his life depended on it while Natasha recorded the whole thing.

And that’s how a vicious prank war started between Tony and Dean.

Dean started with taping bang snaps to the underside of the toilet’s seat so when Tony sat on it the fucking thing made exploding sounds that almost gave him a heart attack. 

Tony retaliated with putting mentos in ice cubes and watched with delight as it exploded into Dean’s face when he added a cube to his whiskey.

And it goes down to hell from there. Neither one of them was planning to back down and the rest of the team was trying desperately to stay out of their little war.

Until the day Dean messed with his suits. He somehow managed to bypass JARVIS and painted all his suits fucking hot pink with hello kitty stickers all over them.

“Tony, don’t do anything stupid.” Steve warned as he struggled to hold back his laugh, while Tony was cursing loudly as he removed the stickers and added dollars to Steve’s swear jar at the same time.

“Oh, I will show you stupid. He messed with my suits! He is fucking dead!” Tony yelled and added another dollar at Steve’s raised eyebrow.

“You did mess with his car’s wipers by adding Acrylic paint on them. I think you guys are even.” Steve reasoned as he lost his fight with hiding his amused smile.

“A rainbow tainted windshield doesn’t compare to this!” Tony objected gesturing wildly at his suits. “They’re pink, Steve! Pink!”

“I can see pink as your color.” Steve smirked and laughed when Tony scowled at him. “Again, don’t do anything stupid. Dean won’t hesitate to murder you if you did what I know you’re thinking.”

“I’d like to see him try.”

***

Dean, Sam and Castiel where in the elevator, making their way down to the garage to check out a hunt they found close enough to them.

“Tell me again about the hunt. I wasn’t paying attention before.” Dean smirked idly up at Sam who scowled at him.

“Like I said before. Three people died in the past two weeks. Same death, no connections. The bodies messing their hearts.” Sam reported trying to ignore how obnoxious his brother was being.

“I am guessing a werewolf?” Castiel supplied helpfully. “It is full moon, after all.”

The elevator reached the garage then and they stepped out to head towards the impala.

“Yeah, that’s what I though t-Oh shit!” Sam and Castiel yelped as their eyes landed on the Impala and immediately stood in front of Dean to block his view of the car with very nervous and panicked grins on their faces.

“What? What’s gotten to the two of you?” Dean trailed his eyes between them in bewilderment.

“Nothing!” they both exclaimed in high pitched voices. They exchanged a look then turned back to Dean.

“You know what, Dean? The hunt is probably nothing. let’s just leave it.” Sam was rambling and tried with Castiel to push Dean back towards the elevator.

“Nope. We’re going. I need to get away from Tony before he does something drastic for painting his suits. Let’s go.” Dean tried to sidestep them but Castiel grabbed him and stayed firmly in front of him.

“Let’s go have sex. I’m turned on. Come on.” Castiel announced and started pushing at Dean desperately.   

“As much as I love to. We really need to go, babe. Later.” Dean winked at him with a smirk and sidestepped them.

“Dean, No!” both Sam and Cas yelled but it was too late. Dean’s eyes already landed on the Impala.

Dean froze completely as he stared at his car. Sam was sure he was probably not breathing, trying to convince himself what he was seeing wasn’t real.

The Impala was pink. Pink with Iron Man stickers all over it and the words ‘Suck it’ painted on the side. Which made it easy to know who was brave enough to do this.

Sam and Castiel winced when Dean let out a strangled noise then bent over to rest his hands on his knees as he hyperventilated heavily and they heard him muttering every curse word he knew.

“Dean, calm down we can fix-“ Castiel started but was interrupted by Dean pulling out his gun suddenly and turned towards them with pure fury on his face.

“I am going to fucking kill him!” he screamed and sprinted towards the elevator while shouting in anger.

Sam and Castiel stood there and stared after him.

“Well, this is terrible.” Sam commented, strangely calm. “My brother will be known as the man who killed Tony Stark and gotten killed in return by Captain America for it, then you will be the guy who killed Captain America. Such a tragic story really.”

Castiel only scowled at him as an answer.

***

The next hour involved the team trying to stop Dean from killing Tony and trying to shut Tony up to not get himself killed.

“Alright! Can you two stop already!” Steve yelled as he stood between the two of them while the team was keeping them away from each other.

“He painted my baby pink!” Dean yelled struggling against Sam, Cas and Thor, still holding his gun tightly in his hand.

“He painted my babies first!” Tony yelled back while Natasha, Clint and Bruce were pulling him back.

Bucky just sat on the couch watching the whole thing while eating a sandwich.  

“Thanks for the help, Buck.” Steve glowered at him and Bucky just gave him a thumbs up and mouthed ‘You’re doing great’ to him. Steve just sighed and addressed them again. “Now you guys are even. This prank war is over. So, now, Dean you take any of Tony’s cars so you guys can go to the hunt and Tony will make your car as good as new, and when you return you will do the same for Tony’s suits. Are we clear?”

“But I-“

“He did-“

“Guys, please.” Steve sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Fine.” Tony grind out with a pout. Dean looked around for a second before dropping his gun with growl.

Tony and Dean glowered at each other for another few minutes making everyone roll their eyes at them.

“I won’t be dealing with this if they just had left me in the ice.” Steve groaned as the others laughed at his distress.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Dean was still cursing at Tony under his breath two hours later while they were driving towards the small town where the hunt was.

Sam and Castiel were rolling their eyes and groaning as the cursing and grumbling went on and on.

“You did mess with his suits first, Dean.” Castiel tried to reason with him calmly but he knew it won’t work.

“He messed with my baby! No one messes with baby!” Dean exclaimed incredulously.

“The suits are his babies too. So you guys are even.” Sam sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly.

“We are not even! He dared to touch my baby!”

Castiel completely toned out the bickering brothers and turned to watch the scenery outside the window.

That’s when he saw it. He frowned as he tried to make sure that what he was seeing was right.

“Guys.” he called out sternly which made both brothers stop and look at him in attention. “That car behind us is following us since we left the tower.”

They looked in the rearview mirror to see the black car with tainted windows that was getting boldly closer to them.

“I noticed it an hour ago, but I didn’t think it was actually following us.” Sam commented with a frown.

“Well, whoever they are, they’re going to regret following us.” Dean announced firmly and sped up the car.

They were in the middle of nowhere and there was no one in the road except them and the suspicious car. It was dark since the sun had set hours ago but that didn’t stop Dean to speed up all the way.

The car gave a vicious chase and seemed to be determined to reach them.

The chase went on for what felt like hours, Dean trying to shake them off but whoever was in the car was very stubborn.

“Dammit! They’re not giving up anytime soon.” Dean said in frustration as he tried again to stay away from the approaching car.

“They are not trying to just silently follow us anymore. It’s like they’re trying to hit us.” Sam murmured nervously as he held on to the dashboard.

As if to prove Sam right, the fucking car hit them violently in the back, jerking them violently forward.

“Fucking dammit!” Dean cursed loudly. “Cas! You alright?” 

“I’m fine.” Castiel groaned as he straightened himself only to fall forward when the car hit them again even more violently this time and stayed attached to them.

“Dean! Shake them off! They will turn us upside down with this speed!” Sam yelled as he tried to hold on to anything.

“I can’t! Tony’s fucking car is too light and I don’t understand half the buttons he added in it!” Dean exclaimed and held on to the steering wheel tightly.

They allowed themselves to panic when the back wheels of their car started to rise from the ground because of the other car.

They didn’t know exactly what happened but suddenly their car was tipping dangerously to the side, then with another hit from the black car it went flying across the road with the car rolling around several times until it stopped upside down on the side of the empty road.

The black car stopped and observed the scene for a few minutes before driving away when there was no movement from inside the upturned car.

Dean groaned as he felt blood dripping down on his face and his vision was blacking out fast.

“Cas? Sam?” he called out brokenly and fought the wave of nausea he felt when he got no response. “Guys, come on, don’t do this.”

He didn’t have time to panic because soon his vision blacked out and his consciousness slipped away.

***

Tony was working on bringing the Impala back to its glory (with a few upgrades because he couldn’t help it), while trying to ignore the voice inside his head that sounded suspiciously like Steve that was telling him maybe he went a little overboard when he messed with Dean’s car. It was a miracle Dean didn’t murder him for it.

“Sir.” JARVIS’ voice interrupted his thoughts and he frowned. The AI’s voice sounded almost-worried?

“What is it, Jay?” he asked not stopping his work.

“I’m afraid I have dire news about the Winchester family.”

Tony froze. He couldn’t have heard that right. The Winchesters are very capable of taking care of themselves. There was absolutely no way something or someone that could change that so he probably didn’t hear that right. There must be a mistake.

He tried to keep the rising panic from his voice as he asked “What news?”

“They were in a car accident and I lost connection with the three of them, sir.”

Then he couldn’t hold back the panic anymore.

***

In a matter of ten minutes, the whole team was at the location JARVIS provided of the accident, with the Quinjet.

The moment Tony told them the news they all rushed to action only managing to put on proper clothes and Steve grapping only his shield, and head out to the location immediately while trying not to panic.

They froze when their eyes landed on the upturned car and it made them sick to their stomachs.

Steve recovered first and immediately went to action. “Thor, Bucky get Sam out! Tony and Natasha get Dean, and Clint help me with Castiel, come on! We need to move.” He urged them on and they all snapped out of their panic and rushed towards the car with Bruce staying behind nervously.

Tony tried to open the door at Dean’s side and found it locked so he used the laser beam to pull it off completely. He was glad he thought about wearing the suit and didn’t get blinded by his panic.

He pulled the door off and crouched down with Natasha to pull out Dean’s still form.

“Oh, God.” Natasha whispered in distress as she saw Dean’s face that was covered in blood.

“JARVIS! Scan him for injuries!” Tony called out, trying desperately to stay calm.

“Mr. Winchester took a hard hit to the head, sir, and might’ve caused a concussion. There are no other injuries. Something must have protected him in the crash.”

Castiel. There was no other explanation. No way Dean could have got out of this with just a head injury.

Meanwhile, Thor was ripping the passenger door open, then moved to pull Sam out with Bucky.

“Is he alright? James! Is he alright?” Natasha called out anxiously, desperately wanting to rush to Sam but unwilling to leave Dean.

“He is alive.” Bucky called back to her while checking on Sam.

“His leg seemed to be broken but otherwise he is alright.” Thor reported as he carried Sam with Bucky.

Again, definitely Castiel’s work.

Unfortunately, Steve and Clint were having a hard time in getting the angel out, since the backseat got dislocated in the crash and now Castiel’s body was trapped between the back and the front seats.

Tony felt Dean move as he watched Steve anxiously trying to dislocate the seats while Clint was pulling Castiel.

Dean opened his eyes blearily, his eyes were incapable of focusing on anything. Then, he stiffened suddenly.

“Cas! Sam!” he exclaimed and tried to get up frantically.

“Hey, hey! They’re fine! They’re fine, Dean, calm down!” Tony and Natasha held him down as he writhed.

Dean stopped. Tony saw him struggling to focus on them and stay conscious on the same time.

“What-how did you-what are you-“ he was trying desperately to complete one sentence but unable to.

“Dean, please, just calm down.” Natasha patted his face gently. “It’s going to be fine.”

Dean flickered his eyes between them dazedly before settling on Tony.

“Sorry. A-about your c-car.” He muttered before losing conscious again.

Fucking idiot! Did he actually think that Tony cared about the fucking car right now?!

Thankfully, he was distracted from his utter need to smack Dean, when Steve and Clint finally managed to get Castiel out of the car.

“We need to get them to a hospital now!” Steve exclaimed looking panicked as he carried Castiel with Clint. “He is barely breathing!”

Of course he is, the idiot, obviously, focused on saving Sam and Dean and ignored himself in the process.

Each two worked together to carry a Winchester to the jet. Then, they took off fast towards the nearest hospital.

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

     

    


	3. Chapter 3

Dean felt like he was hit by a train when he started to wake up slowly, half expecting to find himself still in the upside down car with his brother and his husband’s bodies unconscious next to him.

What he didn’t expect was to find himself in a hospital room with another two beds where Sam and Cas lies and with all the Avengers sleeping around the room like guard dogs.

Dean blinked groggily as he observed the scene. Steve and Tony where on the floor in the space between his bed and Cas’. Steve resting his back on the wall with Tony in his lap, both asleep. Natasha squeezed herself on the small space left by Sam’s enormous body on the hospital bed and wrapped around him almost protectively. Bucky was on the other side of Dean’s bed also on the floor with Thor almost crushing his body with how heavily he was leaning on him with Clint sprawled out on both their laps. Bruce was on a chair close to Sam’s bed and was snoring loudly as he slept.

Dean blinked a few times to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, then felt warmth spread through him when he realized it wasn’t. His family rushed to save them and was unwilling to leave their sides.

He moved his head to check on his husband and groaned when he felt a throbbing pain in his head and raised his hand towards it to find his head was covered tightly with bandages. So, he hit his head. Great.

His groan managed to wake Tony up, which meant he was stressed and uneasy if he was easily awoken like that.

The genius raised his head blearily and looked around in confusion for a few seconds before his eyes landed on Dean, then he was immediately awake and was scrambling to his feet.

“Oh, shit. You are awake. I was already preparing your funeral. My hard work is gone.” His snarky words were broken by the pure relief in his eyes and the stress on his face. His face was pale with dark circles under his eyes and his hair was a complete mess like he was racking his fingers in it for hours. Now that Dean noticed he realized everyone was in the same state as Tony was.

“You look terrible.” Dean commented bluntly, which pulled a laugh out of Tony.

“Jeez, Buster Brown, thanks.” He rolled his eyes with a smile. “Sure, scare the hell out of us then make fun of me. How nice.”

“Ohhh, you were worried? I knew it. You like me.” Dean grinned cheekily at him.

“Shut up, I said no such thing.”

“You’re breaking my heart.” Dean laughed, then sobered up as he looked Tony up and down and saw how terrible he looked. “How long?”

Tony, like always, understood what he was asking. “Four days. Four fucking days and both you and Cas won’t wake up. Sam did on the first day since he only has a broken leg, but no you two have to make it hard! Since Cas focused on saving both of you he completely ignored to save himself and now is sporting a nice amount of injuries, but apparently couldn’t keep you from hitting your fucking head and blackout for days!” he was rambling. If Dean didn’t stop him he will talk probably forever.

“How did you convince them to put three beds in one room?” Dean cut him off curiously as he tried to process the words Tony just threw at him.

“I have money, Dean.” He said tiredly like that explained everything, which kinda did.

“Now, can you calmly explain what did you mean by Cas sporting a nice amount of injuries? Because that particular part is making me dizzy right now and what did you mean by he focused on saving us?”

“Did you actually think you could have survived that accident if Cas didn’t interfere?” Tony sighed tiredly. “The car was a complete ruin, Dean. If Cas wasn’t there you and Sam would have been dead by now. There is no other explanation, no way either of you could have gotten out of this with just a head injury and a broken leg.” Tony pinched the bridge of his nose like he was fighting off a headache. “He has several broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder and a spinal injury. The doctors thought he won’t ever be able to walk again but Cas is already healing fast much to the shock of the doctors who I paid them to shut up about it. Dean?”

Dean felt himself get unbearably dizzy and his heart rate was echoing through the room from the heart monitor machine that was attached to him. Spinal injury. Broken ribs. That fucking, stupid idiot who will get himself killed again because of them.

“Hey, hey! Dean, he is fine! The spinal injury is already mostly healed! He just hasn’t woken up yet! Probably too focused on healing, just calm down!” Tony gripped his shoulder as he tried to calm him down.

Dean took a few deep breaths to calm his panicking heart and focused on Tony who kept murmuring reassuring words until he felt settled again. _Cas will be fine. He was already healing. He will be fucking fine_.

“I’m sorry about your car.” He murmured feeling like he said those words before.

“I don’t care about the fucking car, Dean.” Tony glared at him and Dean couldn’t help but smile. Seriously, a year ago if they had told him Tony Stark was the man that was standing in front of him right then, he would have told them they were crazy. Almost no one outside of this room knew this version of Tony Stark.

“Alright, then I am sorry about your suits. I was a jerk.”

“Yes, you were.” Tony raised an eyebrow at him. “And I shouldn’t have touched your baby. Sorry.”

“We’re even, dude.” He smiled tiredly at the genius.

They then heard a thud and a groan from Dean’s left side. He turned his head to see that Bucky’s body lost its fight with Thor’s and now was sprawled out under the Norse God with Clint squished between them.

“Guys, help! Can’t breathe!” Bucky yelped as he struggled to move, while Clint waved his arms around in panic.

That managed to wake Steve up and he stood to look around groggily. He looked equally as terrible as Tony was. He didn’t notice that Dean was awake.

“What’s goin’ on?” he muttered as he raked his fingers through his hair. Apparently, Steve’s accent gets heavier when he was tired and sleepy.

“Thor just turned Bucky and Clint into pancakes.” Tony reported tiredly and automatically.

“Goddammit, not again.” Steve groaned, then moved to remove The Norse God’s body from the yelping men.

***

“So who do you think tried to kill you?” Natasha asked Sam seriously, while she drew small circles in the palm of his hand reassuringly.

They were all thrilled to see Dean awake but soon the pain in his head became too much, they had to give him something for the pain that put him back to sleep. It’s better than they expected, they were worried for a moment that he will wake up with amnesia or something from how hard the hit was.

“I am going to need hours to list how many beings that want us dead.” Sam answered with a tired chuckle.

“Did you see the car’s plate or something?” Tony inquired from where he was sitting on the floor with Steve, backs resting on the wall.

“No. I checked them. There was none.”

 “If I was going to kill someone with my car I won’t leave the car’s plate, you know.” Clint commented with a shrug.

“The important question here is whoever they are, did they try to kill you or did they think they were killing Tony?” Bucky added with a frown and made everyone look at him.

“That’s.. a very good question.” Steve muttered in concern. “They were in one of Tony’s cars, after all.”

“Oh, great. That means I almost got you guys killed because of a stupid prank.” Tony groaned and covered his face in his hands, while Steve pulled him closer protectively.

“We don’t know that.” Sam murmured tiredly. “Besides, better us than you, dude. Ow!” Sam yelped when Natasha pinched his arm sharply and glared at him.

“Don’t you dare to say that again, idiot.” She hissed into his face with a sharp glare directed at him.

Before he could answer, he was interrupted by a gasp and the loud beeping noise of a heart monitor.

They all jumped, and were on their feet immediately, except for Sam, then looked towards the other two beds in panic. Only to find themselves staring at a very awake Castiel, sitting on the bed and looking around in confusion.

“Well, I guess the spinal injury is healed.” Bruce murmured in wonder.

Castiel blinked at them dazedly for a second, before his eyes landed on Dean and he tensed immediately.

He was about to bolt out of the bed if not for Thor and Steve, who rushed to restrain him.

“Cas! Cas, he is fine! Calm down! You are going to hurt yourself!” Steve yelled as he tried to keep him on the bed.

“He is just resting, Castiel. You should too. Your body is still healing.” Thor added more calmly and pushed Castiel firmly to rest on his back.

Castiel stopped and looked contemplatively for a second, before complying and rested back to the bed, probably too tired to fight them off.

“How do you feel?” Steve asked gently as he felt the others coming closer to check on Cas.

“Like I was hit by a planet.” Castiel answered with a groan.

“That’s probably because you are a self-sacrificing idiot.” Tony raised an eyebrow at him.

“Look who’s talking.” Castiel muttered with a roll of his eyes. “Mr. I-Will-Carry-this-Nuke-Through-The-Portal-To-Save-New-York, who is married to Mr. I-Will-Put-The-Plane-Filled-With-Missiles-Into-The-Water-To-Also-Save-New-York. Yeah, sure call me a self-sacrificing idiot. That’s not hypocritical at all.”

Okay, so a pained Castiel is a very cynical, very sarcastic, very sassy Castiel. Tony wasn’t sure if he should feel proud or scared.

“Now that’s what I call a burn.” Clint giggled at the pinched look on both Steve and Tony’s faces and the others soon followed.

“Glad you are awake, buddy.” Steve patted Castiel’s shoulder with a roll of his eyes, but the small smile on his face told them that he truly meant it.         

 

      


	4. Chapter 4

It took the Winchesters three more days in the hospital before they were allowed to leave. Much to their chagrin.

Tony took care of the financial part and also paid the doctors and nurses so they won’t talk to anyone about how Castiel was healed so fast from a spinal injury.

For some reason, Dean had insisted they go to the bunker instead of the Tower. After a very long argument between Steve and Dean that involved way too many swearing that filled Steve’s swear jar nicely, Dean reluctantly agreed they go back to the Tower.

Steve and Dean scowled at each other all the way home, with Castiel ignoring the both of them as he rested his head tiredly on Dean’s shoulder.

The whole team practically dragged Dean and Castiel towards their room, while Natasha just grabbed Sam and helped him to their room. Sam was too tired to put up a fight so he went willingly, meanwhile the team closed the door on Dean’s loud swearing and Castiel’s rolling eyes.

Something in the strange way Dean was acting made Tony tell JARVIS to wake him if either one of the Winchesters left their rooms.

And like he suspected, two Winchesters left their room at 4 am.

***

“Dean, I don’t think you’re fit to go to a hunt yet.” Castiel said worryingly as he watched Dean pack both their duffle bags. “You are still recuperating from a head injury. Just wait a few more days, please.”

“In the week we spent in the hospital three more people died, Cas.” Dean looked up at him then. “You don’t have to come with me. I will be able to handle it on my own. You should stay, you’re still healing.”

“I’m not letting you go alone, Dean.” Castiel looked at him like he was an idiot, which made Dean chuckle and his face softened as he smiled fondly at his husband.

“I know.” Dean murmured with a smile, then he moved towards Castiel and wrapped his arms around his waist to pull him closer. “You know me, baby. I will not be able to relax when I know that people are still dying. I just can’t.”

Castiel sighed then nodded. Dean just smiled and kissed him gently, before going back to their bags.

“Shouldn’t we at least tell the others?” Castiel asked but already knew the answer.

“They will lock us in the Tower if we told them.” Dean rolled his eyes. “That’s why I wanted to go back to the bunker. It was going to be easier to sneak out without being noticed.”

“They are worried, Dean. Finding us like that in the car really shook them. They don’t want to lose us.”

“Yes, I know.” Dean sighed. “But we’re still hunters who need to do their jobs. They will understand.”

Dean and Castiel left their room as quietly as they could to not disturb anyone from the other rooms. They made their way across the living area towards the elevators, when they noticed that they weren’t alone.

“Hey, guys.” Tony said cheekily as he sat cross legged on the couch next to Steve, who was also wide awake and scowling at them. “Going somewhere?”

“Oh, come on.” Dean groaned and face palmed. “You are like two incredibly annoying parents.”

“I hope I am the dad.” Tony grinned at him, while Steve just shook his head.

“Where are you going?” Steve asked with a raised eyebrow.

 “To the hunt.” Castiel answered shortly, knowing that Steve will understand which hunt he was referring to.

“You guys just got out of the hospital this morning! Couldn’t you at least take it easy for a few more days?” Steve’s face was contorted with concern.

“Three more people died this week, Steve. We can’t just let more people die like that.” Dean stared at Steve daring him to object.

Steve and Tony shared a look before they seemed to agree on something without speaking.

“Then we will come with you.” Tony announced in a tone that said he already made the decision for them.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Tony and I will come with you.” Steve repeated with a smile. “Sam can’t go. You guys are not in your full strength so you need back up. We will come with you, while the others will stay here in case the Avengers were needed.”

“You guys can’t be serious.” Dean stared at the both of them like they were crazy.

“Deadly.”

“You can’t. It’s dangerous.” Steve and Tony stared at him blankly and Dean kicked himself inwardly. “Ok, that was a stupid thing to say.” he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “But it isn’t like Avengers’ missions. You are not familiar with the supernatural.”

“Teach us what we need to know on the way. We are fast learners” Tony shrugged carelessly. “But we are going wither you like it or not.”

Dean and Castiel shared a look. The latter just shrugged none committedly and the former sighed again in defeat.

“Fine.” He scowled at them, while they grinned triumphantly. “But you guys will listen to us completely. Also, No shield or suit. You are not going as super heroes. No one should know who you guys are, understand?”

“We figured as much.” Steve just smiled back at him.

“I guess you should go pack what you will need.” Castiel suggested, still not really believing what’s happening.

“We already did.” They both stood up and grabbed two duffle bags from behind the couch, then grinned back at Dean and Castiel innocently.

“You were planning this, weren’t you?” Dean narrowed his eyes at them.

“Maybe.”

“You knew we will let you come?”

“We were coming even if you refused.”

“Of course you will.”

They were interrupted when they heard a door opening from down the hall, they turned to see Sam walking out with his crutches and a duffle bag on his shoulder.

He froze when he saw them all staring at him. “Well, I guess I don’t need to wake the both of you then.” he laughed nervously looking towards his brother and brother in-law.

“What are you doing?” Dean stared at him blankly.

“Coming with you?”

“Your leg is broken.”

“So?”

“Go back to bed, Sam!” the four men exclaimed like one making Sam jump and look at them in bewilderment.

“Alright, alright, Jesus.” He sighed in defeat and turned back around, only to jump again when he found himself face to face with a very awake, very displeased Natasha. “Uhm, I thought you were sleeping, Nat.” Sam smiled nervously at her. He swallowed as her scowl just got deeper without answering. Sam groaned when he heard Dean and Tony giggle at him from behind, only to be silenced when Natasha turned her scowl at them.

Sam couldn’t exactly blame them. Natasha was shorter than him with almost more than twelve inches and she still managed to intimidate him and made him feel like a misbehaving child.

“Back to bed. Got it.” He nodded nervously and started to make his way back to their room. Even though she was still scowling at him, her touch was gentle as she helped in supporting him.

“That was adorable.” Dean chuckled looking back at his partners.

“They are already acting like a married couple.” Tony shook his head with a laugh. “I won’t be surprised if we heard wedding bells soon.”

“Probably in a month or two if I am reading Sam right.” Castiel commented with a shrug.

“Wait, really?” Steve asked with wide eyes.

“Oh, yeah. Believe me.” Dean answered instead with a smile. “Anyway, no time to waste. Let’s head out now.”    

***

The ride was…something.

Okay, it was annoying as hell.

Obviously, Tony wasn’t used to stay in a car for hours and soon got bored and bitched about everything, which got Dean to bitch back at him, while Steve and Castiel toned them out completely and played against each other a game on their phones, Which Castiel kept winning. Every single time. Steve seriously had no idea how he was doing it and his competitive side was rearing its ugly head, so he barely held himself back from strangling the angel. Probably that won’t lead him anywhere except a confused frown from Cas, while he removed Steve’s hands without flinching. He keeps forgetting how powerful Castiel was.

“We could have flied there!” Tony bitched for the hundredth time.

“Like I said, we need to stay low and not get any attention to us.” Dean answered yet again but Steve could hear his teeth gritting.

“Oh, please. The moment I will step out of the car everyone will know who I am.” He rolled his eyes and Steve could tell that Dean was two seconds away from banging his head on the stirring wheel.

“Then hide your fucking face.” Dean growled. Steve really tried to let it slide this time but couldn’t, he pulled out the swear jar and handed it over to Castiel instead since he was pretty sure Dean might bite his hand off if he handed it over himself.

Castiel took the jar wordlessly, apparently not caring about what’s happening in the car currently, and held over the jar towards Dean, who gave him a betrayed look which Castiel returned it with a blank look. Dean sighed then pulled out a dollar, while glaring hard at Steve in the rearview mirror.

Well, at least he got to keep his hand. That’s a start.

Two hours later, Dean parked in front of a motel.

“Why did we stop?” Tony asked groggily while removing his head from Steve’s shoulder where he was sleeping for the past hour.

“We reached the town, so we will get a room.” Dean answered shortly while trying to wake Cas up gently.

Tony looked from outside the window then turned a blank look towards Dean. “Okay. So why did you stop here?”

Dean looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. “To get a room.” he repeated again like he was talking to a child.

“This is a motel.”

“How observant.”

“This is a freaking motel!”

“Do you like repeating the word or something?”

“Why are we going to stay in a moldy, filthy motel?!”

“There are no five stars hotels here, dude. Besides, you wanted to be a hunter for a few days. So you will live like one.” Dean smirked before getting out of the car.

“We will book the rooms. Wait here in case someone recognized you.” Castiel said with a sympathetic look towards Tony before following Dean out.

Steve could literally feel Tony having a meltdown next to him. He really didn’t care about the motel thing. As long as there was a bed, he will happily crash on it wherever it was. Tony? Not so much.

“It is just for a few days, Tony. You will live.” Steve sighed in frustration.

“You don’t know that! The ugly wallpaper might kill me from how ugly it will be!” Tony protested loudly.

Steve scooted closer to Tony and brushed his lips against the genius’. “Tell you what, the moment we enter our room I will distract you enough that you won’t notice the ugly wallpaper. How does that sounds?” Steve murmured against Tony’s lips, then trailed kisses along his neck.

“You are being very persuasive.” Tony moaned and tilted his head back to give Steve more room.

They sprung apart when they heard loud knocking on the window. They turned to see Dean giving them an unimpressed raised eyebrow.

“Bad news. They only have one room with two queens. So we will have to share.” Dean announced, not looking happy about the whole thing. “No funny business while Cas and I in the same room. I have guns and I am not afraid to use them. Come on, get your asses out of my car, you already messed with it enough already and I am not planning to burn my backseats.” With that he was gone to march back to the motel to a waiting Castiel.

Steve and Tony blinked at his retreating back, before Tony groaned and buried his face in Steve’s chest.

“This is just getting better and better.”

 

  

 

   


	5. Chapter 5

Castiel had to admit, seeing Tony having a meltdown about the horrible wallpaper was quite hilarious and couldn’t help but watch with amusement.

He also could tell that Dean was enjoying torturing the genius way too much, judging from the smirk that took residence on his face.

“This is horrible. Just horrible. It is an insult to even call this place a room!” Tony rambled as he looked around with horrified eyes. Meanwhile, Steve just carried both their duffle bags towards one of the two beds calmly, completely ignoring his freaking out husband.

“Either that or sleeping in the car. Which do you prefer?” Dean raised an eyebrow at him challengingly.

Tony just grumbled under his breath and sat down on the bed Steve chose to sulk childishly.

“So, now what?” Steve asked curiously while carding his fingers through Tony’s hair in an attempt to mollify him, which was working since Tony leaned into the touch and purred like a cat.

“Now we will sleep. Then tomorrow, we will talk to the witnesses and the victims’ families in an attempt to know what we are dealing with here.” Dean answered as he took both their bags to place it on the other bed, much to Castiel’s chagrin. Sure, he was still healing but he wasn’t weak. However, Dean was acting like he was going to break if he even carried his own bag.

“Sounds like a plan.” Steve nodded, and moved to pull both his and Tony’s sleepwear from their bags.

After Dean did the same, they all froze as they stared at each other when all of them started to make their way towards the bathroom at the same time.

They blinked at each other for a second before scrambling towards the bathroom door like one.

Dean managed to pull open the door first and pulled Castiel inside with him, then closed the door on the other two’s faces in a matter of two seconds.

“Suckers!” Dean laughed loudly with a smug grin.

“Very mature, dude!” Tony shouted from the other side.

“Look who’s talking!”

“I hate you!”

Castiel couldn’t help but laugh at the victorious smug grin spread out on Dean’s face. It was nice to see Dean’s childish side more frequently. It makes him even more beautiful than he already was.

“Come on, babe. We will have shower sex and use all the hot water.” Dean grinned and pulled him towards the shower, ignoring Tony’s yelling and Steve’s frustrated groans.

***

It was three in the morning when Tony’s nightmares decided to make an appearance.

He was half on top of Steve since the bed was a little too small for two grown men, especially someone with Steve’s size. The Winchester couple where almost in the same position.

The dream started innocently enough, then it slowly changed to a few scenes from his and Dean’s adventure in the forties. Flashes of Steve choking for air and almost dying right in front of his eyes. Dean shot down and taken by Nazis. The arc reactor ripped out of his body.

He sat up with a sharp gasp and breathed heavily while sweat drenched his whole body.

No one except Steve knows that the whole time travel thing that happened to him and Dean had shook him to the core. The fact that he almost lost this. Lost this life. Lost his family. Lost his Steve. It messed him up even more.

He wrapped his arms around himself as he shook violently, which effectively managed to wake Steve up. His husband blinked awake and looked blearily up at him, before bolting upright immediately and wrapped his arms gently around him then pressed Tony’s face to his chest, while he pressed his lips to Tony’s temple, whispering soothingly into his skin.

Tony tried to calm his erratic breathing to not wake the other couple in the room, but knew he was failing miserably, and if Castiel or Dean were awake they didn’t make a move to indicate it. He was grateful for that.

“I am here, Sweetheart.” Steve drawled in his ear soothingly. “I am here. You’re here. Nothing will change that. You know that. There is no force in the entire universe that will manage to take me away from you.”

Tony knew that’s true. Steve was stubborn enough to make this true. But things don’t usually work out the way they want. He knew good things won’t last long for him and Steve already lasted way too long for Tony to start becoming nervous.

He can’t lose him. He was literally incapable of living without this man.

He pressed closer to his husband’s warmth. He was still shaking and Steve was still whispering in his ear soothingly.

They stayed like that for what felt like hours.

***

Dean woke up the moment he heard Tony gasp awake, but didn’t move or make any sign that he was awake.

He knew the genius was deeply affected by what happened in their time travel accident. Honestly, he was affected by it as well.

He was so close to lose everything. For real this time. He was seventy years away from his husband and brother. His whole family and friends. He had almost died way too many times decades before his birth.

He understood Tony’s fear. Because he has the same exact fear. The fear of losing their better halves. He can no longer live without Castiel’s constant presence by his side. His reassuring existence in his soul. One look from the angel is enough to give him the strength to do anything. He won’t even have the heart to raise his head if Castiel wasn’t there to meet his eyes.

He doesn’t want to lose that. He won’t survive it. Not anymore.   

He looked down at the aforementioned angel in his arms to see that he was also awake and was watching Steve and Tony with a wistful look in his eyes.

Sensing that Dean was staring at him, he looked up and met his eyes. Like always, they never needed words between them. One look was always enough. Enough to let the other know what they feel. What they fear.   

Castiel pressed his face even further to Dean’s chest and wrapped an arm around his waist to pull him closer.

They listened to Steve’s whispers and Tony’s slowly calming down sobs, until they fell asleep along with them.

***

“Rise and shine, everybody. Rise and shine!” Dean’s overly cheerful voice preached Steve’s ears and he groaned as he opened his eyes to see a fully awake Dean with four coffees and a huge greasy bag.

“Shut up.” Tony growled as he pulled the covers over his head. “I don’t like you.”

“I brought coffee!” Dean announced with a grin, while handing a bleary eyed Castiel his coffee, which earned him a sleepy, grateful smile.

Tony raised his head a little from the pillow at the word ‘coffee’ and turned to squint at Dean to make sure he wasn’t lying.

“Coffee?” Tony questioned sleepily.

“And breakfast.” Dean grinned smugly when Tony immediately sat up and reached for the coffee the hunter was offering him.

“Okay, I might like you a little.” Tony grunted as he took the first sip.

“Sure, dude.” Dean rolled his eyes and handed Steve his own coffee then settled down on the bed next to Castiel to drink his own and pull out the greasy breakfast he brought.

After the unhealthiest breakfast Steve ever had that made his eyes cross, while made Tony happy as a kitten, Dean stood up and faced them.

“Well, if you are awake and sated now, we have work to do.”

 

 

   

       

     

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

Natasha laid awake next to a sleeping Sam on the bed and just watched him, while playing softly with his hair.

He scared the hell out of her. The mere thought of almost losing him gave her enough nightmares that she couldn’t sleep properly anymore.

They were together for almost ten months now and she was already too deep. Maybe too deep from the start. He is her future. She knows that. But the future is a fragile thing. One mistake and her future will be ripped away from her. And she wasn’t planning to let that happen.

In one stupid accident, she almost lost the first person she ever trusted with her heart and two idiots who are pretty much the brothers she never realized she wanted. Natasha hates to admit that she was still shaken about it.

She looked up sharply when she heard someone knocking on their door, but relaxed as the door opened revealing Bucky with two plates of food.

Surprisingly, Bucky was a pretty good cook. Probably picked it up from Steve when they grew up together, however, he likes things spicy so he pretty much adds hot chili to everything, much to Castiel and Clint’s chagrin who doesn’t like spicy stuff.

“Hey.” Bucky greeted as he closed the door behind him and moved towards their bed to set cross-legged on a vacated place. “How’s he?”

“Fine. If you ignored his sulking for being stuck in the bed.” Natasha smirked, while taking the two offered plates.     

“Can’t really blame him.” Bucky shrugged with a smile, then frowned. “Now, care to explain why there are two empty rooms where two certain couple should be staying?”

“Oh, right. They went on a hunt.” She answered shortly, while she nudged at Sam to wake up.

“Let me guess, Dean and Castiel insisted on going. Steve and Tony failed to convince them otherwise, so they decided to join them instead?”

“Yup, pretty much.”

“Bunch of idiots. We are dealing with idiots.” He groaned while pinching the bridge of his nose to keep away the headache threatening him. “Two injured hunters and two superheroes who never saw a ghost or a vampire in their lives. What could possibly go wrong?”

Before she could answer, Sam started to stir, which pulled her attention back to him. He opened his eyes and blinked up at her then gave her a sleepy smile that made her heart warmer from how adorable he looked all sleepy with his hair a tragic mess around his head.

“Morning.” She murmured with a soft smile and raked her fingers through his hair.

“Morning.” He murmured back and leaned into her touch. She leaned down and pressed a sweet kiss to his forehead.

“God, this is so sappy.” Bucky’s obnoxious voice broke the moment and they both turned to glare at him.

“Oh, great. You’re here.” Sam sighed then moved to set up against the headboard. “Dean left behind one of his clones.”

“I am older. So that makes him _my_ clone.”

“No, I am pretty sure Dean is the original. He is just infecting everyone around him.”  

“Whatever. Eat your fucking food.”

“You owe the jar a dollar.”

“Steve isn’t here. So I will swear as much as I want.”

“Oh my God, just shut up. Both of you.” Natasha groaned. “I swear it is like dealing with children.”

“He started it!”

“I did not!”

***

“In the past few weeks, six people died. All bodies were found with missing hearts and a look of pure panic on their faces.” Dean started explaining what they were dealing with to the others. “At first, we thought it was a werewolf, but the full moon was gone and the killings were still going, so that’s a no. We need to know what we are dealing with in order to handle it.”

“How are we going to do that?” Steve asked, focusing all of his attention on Dean.

“Like I mentioned yesterday, we need to talk to the victims’ families, maybe we will find a connection between all the victims. Also, there are witnesses that might give us a clue.”

 Tony raised his eyebrow at him. “People will recognize us and they will get confused and twitchy why would the Avengers come here.”

“Yeah, about that. Here.” Dean threw two things at Steve and Tony. Tony was shocked to find out it was two fake FBI badges with their pictures on them. “By the way, no one here knows who the hell you are. I checked this morning. It’s a small town, they really don’t care about watching the news or anything. If anyone suspected, just say it is a lucky resemblance.”

“Wait, no one knows us?! How’s that even possible! Are they living under a rock?!” Tony exclaimed indignantly. “How they not know me?”

“Calm your ego down, dude. Believe or not, not everyone on the planet knows who you are.” Dean rolled his eyes. “Now, wear suits. Not fancy suits, just suits. We will split into two teams. Which one of you prefers to deal with witnesses instead of families?”

“I will go with witnesses.” Tony announced with a cringe. “I am not good at dealing with grieving families.”

“That leaves me with the grieving families.” Steve sighed in defeat. “Great.”

“Then Steve and I will deal with the families.” Castiel announced. “You and Tony take the witnesses.”

“God, thank you. I don’t want to deal with any grief too.” Dean sagged in relief. “Alright guys. Let’s suit up.”

***

 “Try to act normal. Wait, no don’t do that. Better yet, try not to talk at all.” Dean instructed as they approached the first witness’ house.

“Yeah, don’t worry about that. I am too busy having a breakdown about the cheap suit I am wearing.” Tony grimaced as he looked down at himself. “This is just horrible.”

“It’s not my fault that you didn’t think about bringing a suit that not too fancy.” Dean rolled his eyes as he stepped out of the car.

“How am I supposed to know that I will need one? You only wear flannel so that’s all I packed.” Tony objected as he followed Dean out.

“I still don’t understand why you own flannel in the first place.”

“Steve thinks I look hot in them.” He answered cheekily earning another eye roll from the other man.

“Whatever.” Dean sighed then stopped in front of the door. “The first witness called Eva Peterson, in her sixties and used to work in a circus in her young years. She knew the first victim and was there when he disappeared and was the one to find his body a few days later.”

“She had one hell of a week.” Tony frowned sympathetically.

“Yeah, poor woman.” Dean sighed then turned to the door and rang the doorbell. He motioned for Tony to prepare his badge just when the door opened revealing an elderly woman that must have been very beautiful in her youth. “Mrs. Peterson? Agents Parker and Kline. We are here to ask you a few questions about Johan Henderson.”

“Oh, of course! I will be happy to help such handsome men like you.” She answered in an overly cheerful voice that took them off guard. “Please, come in!”

They entered the house looking bewildered.

“Well, she looks way too cheerful for someone who found a dead body two weeks ago.” Tony whispered while they made their way to the living room.

Dean shrugged in confusion and sat on the couch with Tony following his lead.

She sat on an armchair in front of them and looked them up and down appreciatively. They recoiled from the leer that started to appear on her face.

“Uhm, so, Mrs. Peterson, how close were you to Johan?” Dean asked after clearing his throat uncomfortably.

“He was a sweet young man. I knew him since he was a little boy up until he went on his first tour in the army. He was back only a week before the poor boy was brutally murdered.” She shook her head in sadness.

“You were there when he disappeared?”

“Yes, he was in my backyard fixing my broken fence, some impolite kids destroyed it for me, when I heard a strange sound coming from the backyard, I went to check but Johan was nowhere to be found. He disappeared for three days before I found his dead body a few blocks away from here in a dark ally. Such a dreadful sight.”

“What was the sound that you heard?” Tony asked curiously.

“I don’t know really know how to explain it, but I guess the sound of stones being thrown down a hill.” Then they heard a phone ringing from another room. “Oh, excuse me, I have to take this.”

When she was gone Tony turned to look at Dean.

“Stones being thrown down a hill?” Tony repeated in confusion. “Did that give you any ideas?”

“Nope. First time I heard something like that.” Dean frowned in displeasure. “She could be nuts, or didn’t know how to explain-“

“Dean.”

“-or maybe we are facing something new? Werewolves don’t usually kidnap-“

“Dean.”

“-Their victims before killing them, and most victims disappeared in daylight-“

“Dean!”

“What?” Dean finally looked up at Tony in frustration only to see his face paling and a panicked look on his face, while he stared at something behind Dean. “Dude, what’s wrong?”

Tony wordlessly pointed at something behind him. Dean turned around to see only to freeze and stare.

There was a fucking lioness staring at them from the doorway through which Peterson disappeared. A huge fucking lioness!

“Do you see the lion too?” Tony whispered with wide eyes.

Dean gulped as he nodded. He wasn’t dreaming. There was an actual living female lion staring at them.

“Stand up slowly. Try to not make any sudden move.” Dean whispered as he too started to stand up.

They moved slowly towards the front door, eyes never leaving the animal. Suddenly, she let out a noise and started to run towards them.

“Run, dammit, run!” Dean yelled and pushed Tony in front of him as they sprinted towards the door.

The lioness reached them just as they were fumbling with the door frantically.

“Open it!”

“It won’t fucking open!”

“The fucking lion is almost here!”

“Still won’t open!”

The lion jumped on Dean and sent them both to the floor with a yelp.

“Dean!” Tony yelled frantically, only to pause when he saw the lioness licking all over Dean’s face instead of eating him. He started giggling. “Ohh, you just made a new friend.”

“Shut up and get her off of me!”

“But she likes you!”

“Tony, move the damn lion!”

“Oh, so you met Ciara!” Mrs. Peterson’s cheerful voice rang through the room. “They let me keep her when I retired. She is a sweetheart and has a good taste in men!”

“Please, get her off of my face.” Dean yelled from under the lion.

“But she likes you!”

Tony fell to the floor from how hard he was laughing, and only laughed harder at Dean’s loud swearing and death threats sent his way. 

 

 

 

 

 

     


	7. Chapter 7

“Are you ready for this?”

Castiel asked Steve at the door of The Henderson’s house, where the first victim’s mother lived. He couldn’t help but crack an amused smile at the uncomfortable look on Steve’s face as he fiddled with his tie. Even he couldn’t deny how amusing it was to watch Steve and Tony struggle to adjust in the hunt. It made Dean laugh, so Castiel will indulge him. Like always.

“Not really, no.” Steve muttered uncomfortably before sending a glare at Castiel’s amused smile. “I hate suits. I hate lying, and we’re about to lie to a grieving lady and make her talk about her recently killed son. So no, I am not ready.”

“I know it’s hard.” Castiel sighed as he sobered up. “But we’re here to find the thing that killed her son and stop it from killing more people. Otherwise, we will have more grieving mothers.”

“Yeah, okay. I get it.” Steve sighed in defeat, then straightened up in determination. “I’m ready.”

Castiel nodded then turned towards the door and rang the doorbell. The door opened after a few minutes revealing a woman in her late forties, dressed in black and sadness engraving itself on every inch of her face. “Hello, you must be Mrs. Henderson. We’re agents Queen and Allen.” They both flashed their badges at her. “We’d like to ask you a few questions if you don’t mind.”

“I already talked to the police. Several times. I am tired of talking about this.” She said briskly and moved to shut the door.

“Please, Ma’am.” Steve interjected giving her a gentle sympathetic smile. “We’re just here to help. We will not take much of your time.”

She trailed her eyes between them as Castiel also smiled softly at her, then something broke on her guarded face and moved away from the door to let them in.

They followed her into a nicely decorated living room. She must have spent so much time and effort into it. When they both sat down on the small couch, Castiel couldn’t help but see how the both of them were too big for the room. His body got bigger and more muscular in the past months from the hard trainings he does with the team almost every day. He now fills the shirts he stole from Dean nicely.

“What do you want to ask?” Mrs. Henderson asked as she sat in front of them.   

“Did your son had enemies, Ma’am?” Castiel inquired carefully.

“Maybe. I don’t know. He was back only for a couple of weeks. I didn’t have enough time to ask him what he has done out there.”

“Out there? Where was he?” Steve looked at her in confusion.

“He was on a four year tour in Afghanistan. I-I just got him back, then he was taken permanently away from me.” She broke down and tears fell heavily from her eyes. “My poor boy was brutally murdered. He just got back and was so full of life.”

Steve and Castiel tensed and looked at each other in loss, not sure how to deal with this. They both weren’t good at dealing with people much, still a little too awkward for their liking. Their hearts broke for the poor mother but they know whatever they will say won’t help her much.

“We will find whatever took your son, Ma’am.” Steve assured firmly but gently. “We will find them and make them pay for it.”

***

Tony and Dean were in the house of the fourth witness.  This time it was an old Asian woman named Aki Young.

 They spent the whole day visiting the witnesses and she was the last one. The weirdest thing was that all the witnesses had a thing in common. They were all fucking nuts! After the crazy lion lady, the second witness was a guy who loved snakes. His whole house was filled with snakes of all sizes and a huge one crawled on Tony’s shoulder and down his lap, while Dean scooted away from him with a pale face as Tony was fighting down his panic. The third witness was a crazy dude who believed that aliens were responsible of everything, and when he saw Tony’s advanced watch he accused him of being a disguised alien. Hopefully, the fourth one will be a sane one.

“How well did you knew David Johnson?” Dean asked curiously as he accepted the cup of coffee the woman was handing him.

“Not well, I’m afraid so. All I know was that he spent a few years in Afghanistan and got back a month ago or so. He was young and so ready to start with his life after the army. Shame he never got the chance.”

“You were there when he was taken?” Tony asked as he accepted the second cup of coffee.

“Well, not really. I was walking home when I saw him setting on a bench in the park close by. After I walked past him a few feet, I heard a strange sound. I went back to check what it was, but he was gone. That was the last time I saw him.”

“Let me guess, it sounded like rocks falling down a hill or thunder?”

“Exactly! How did you know that?”

“Lucky guess.” Tony shared a meaningful look with Dean. All the witnesses said that exact sentence.

Mrs. Young then offered them a tray filled with what appeared to be homemade fried chips. “Hope you like it. I baked it myself.” They shook their heads and started to decline politely. “Please, I insist.”

Tony sighed and reached over to take one of the fat chips as Dean did the same.

It tasted…good. Pretty good actually.

“This is really good.” Dean murmured appreciatively as he chewed.

“Yeah, it is. Not bad.” Tony nodded with full mouth.

“Thank you! They are fresh. I caught them this morning.” Mrs. Young said cheerfully.

That made them freeze mid chewing and turned slowly to stare at the woman blankly.

“Caught?” Tony asked trying not to swallow. She nodded excitedly.

“What are we eating exactly?” Dean appeared to be struggling to not swallow too.

“Crickets!” she announced delightfully.

This was too much, Tony thought as he almost threw up all over the floor, while Dean’s eyes crossed from how hard he was trying to not spit his mouthful.

“Well, it was nice talking to you, Ma’am. We will be on our way now.” Dean stood up abruptly and pulled Tony to his feet, when he was too dizzy with disgust to move.

They almost ran to the door and the moment they were outside they both spit what was in their mouths while swearing loudly.

“Okay, that’s it! I want to go back to the motel now!” Tony grabbed Dean by his jacket frantically. “I was almost attacked by a lion, a huge snake crawled all over me, I was accused of being an alien, the only thing I have eaten all day since breakfast is a cricket and you still smell like a wet lion!”

“Jeez, thanks.” Dean rolled his eyes, a disgusted grimace was still on his face.

“Suddenly, the dirty, moth filled motel room doesn’t seem so bad anymore.”

“Fine, we will go back. It was the last witness anyway and I need to wash this lion stink before Cas could smell it.”

“Why? Are you afraid he will think that you cheated on him with a lioness?” Tony smirked at him smugly.

“More like I don’t want to disgust him.” Dean grimaced at his smell. “By the way, you smell like a wet snake.”

***

Steve and Castiel left the last victim’s house with haunted looks on both their faces.

Literally, all of the victims were so full of life and cheerful people that it was painful to hear their families weep for them. A paralyzed mother that only had her son in the entire world now had no one to take care of her. One of them had a newborn son that he finally got a chance to see but didn’t get the chance to be his father. A child will never know his father and a disabled mother left alone just because a monster with a big appetite and Steve couldn’t handle that thought.

“Please, tell me that was the last one.” Steve murmured to Castiel. “I don’t know if I could handle this anymore.”

“That was the last house.” Castiel confirmed with a sigh. “Come on, there is a diner down the street. Tony and Dean must be back by now so we should get something to eat.”

Steve nodded and followed him down the street towards the diner.

While Castiel ordered their food, Steve waited for him at a table and stared blankly outside the window, not really seeing anything. All the grieving he dealt with today was seriously getting into him.   

Castiel sat across for him to wait for the food and Steve felt his eyes on him. They sat in silence for a few minutes.

“How do you guys deal with it?” Steve whispered, still staring out of the window. “Sure, our lives are full of pain and grief too, but you deal with it almost on regular basis and I have no idea how you do that.”

“The Winchesters lives has always contained grief, pain and death. They didn’t know any other way.” Castiel answered grimly. “This is how their lives were almost all their lives. They learned to handle it. To deal with it. They had to or they’d have gone mad a long time ago.”

“Do you handle it too?” he turned to meet Castiel’s eyes.

“I don’t know.” Castiel smiled faintly at him. “Sometimes I feel like I could. Sometimes I don’t. I am an angel wither I like it or not. I spent a lifetime not knowing how to feel. Emotions are still hard to distinguish and deal with, even after all those years.”

“It must have been nice to not feel anything.” Steve smiled sadly as he looked down at the tabletop.

“I honestly don’t know what’s worse; to feel nothing or to feel everything. But to feel is what makes you human. Without it, you are not much different than the monster that took the lives of these poor men.”

“Right now, all I am feeling is anger that making me want to find the bastard and rip it to pieces.”

“Then you have started to think like a hunter.”

The waitress brought their takeout food then, and they got up to go back to their husbands.

They walked down the streets for the motel, they both were very capable to walk very long distances without getting tired, so they let Dean and Tony take the car.

“You know, it is very nice to just walk down a street without being recognized.” Steve smiled a little as he watched people walk on by them.

“It must be hard to do that back in New York, right?” The angel looked over at him.

“You have no idea. No one really cares about privacy anymore. It is getting harder to just go out with Tony sometimes for a date night or anything.” He sighed, then frowned a little before looking up at the angel. “Hey, I didn’t get a chance to ask you, how are you feeling? Your injuries were pretty bad and you didn’t give yourself enough time to heal properly.”

“I’m fine.” Steve raised an eyebrow at him and he relented. “Alright. Not completely fine. I’m not at my full power yet. My grace is focused on healing me and it is taking its time.”

“So, you are graceless right now?”

“Pretty much. If used it, I will only hurt myself. I guess a spinal injury takes a lot to fix in my current state.”

“Peachy.” Steve sighed. “I am guessing that you didn’t tell Dean this.”

“If I told him he would have made me stay back and he’d come here alone.” Castiel rolled his eyes in frustration. “He isn’t fully alright either. I would rather die than let him deal with this alone.” The angel then looked up at Steve and smiled. “Thank you. For coming with us. We really needed that.”

“Let’s just catch this bastard.” Steve smiled back at him. “Only then, we could all finally relax a little.”

***

 Dean looked up from his laptop when he heard the door opening and smiled.

“Hey guys, how did it go?” he greeted as Castiel walked towards Dean to give him a greeting kiss on his lips.

“Terrible.” Castiel sighed sadly and sat down on a chair next to Dean.

“That bad, huh?” Dean winced and patted the angel’s hand gently. “Sorry for that, baby. If it makes you feel any better, it was terrible for us too.”

“Where’s Tony?” Steve asked in confusion as he looked around the room, until his eyes landed on their bed to see Tony laying spread eagled on it while staring blankly at the ceiling. “Dean? Did you break Tony?”

“He is just having a breakdown because he accidently ate a cricket, a snake crawled all over him and got accused of being an alien.”  Dean answered carelessly as he focused his attention on the food Castiel gave him.

Steve blinked at him for a few seconds then looked at Castiel for clarification, who only shrugged at him in equal confusion.

“Okay, then.” Steve shook his head and walked over to Tony. “Tony? Sweetheart, I am back. I brought you food.”

Tony blinked a few times before turning his eyes towards Steve, then launched at him to wrap himself around the confused soldier.

“Steve! You’re back! It was terrible. Everything was terrible. Those people are batshit crazy! One of them fed me crickets! Crickets, Steve! And Dean got licked by a lioness. A fucking lioness. Why didn’t I go with grieving?! Why?” Then he stopped and looked carefully at Steve. “Wait, did you say food?”

“Yup. Greasy just the way you like it. And a strawberry milkshake that you deny your love for.” Steve grinned when Tony scrambled to get to the bag of food.

“God, I love you so much. You’re perfect.” Tony moaned as the smell of food hit his nose. Steve just laughed and kissed the top of his head before sitting next to him to get his own food.

Castiel turned towards Dean with a raised eyebrow.

“A lioness?”

“Don’t ask.” Dean sighed as he buried his shame in his burger.

“I was wondering why you smell like a lion. Your taste in women is becoming alarming and questionable. Should I be worried?” Castiel smirked behind his own burger.

“I swear I washed it all awa-“ Dean stopped as the rest of the sentence clicked in his head. “Oh, ha ha. Hilarious. You are becoming more hilarious every day. You should become a comedian.”

“I learned from the best.” Castiel’s smirk just got bigger.

Dean rolled his eyes before pulling out his phone. “I should check on Sam. He is probably all miserable and pouty.”

“Yeah, I bet he will be miserable while having all Natasha’s attention for himself.” Tony snorted while Steve chuckled next to him.

“Shut up. He is miserable. I know it.” Dean started the call and opened the speaker so he could eat while talking.

***

Natasha moaned loudly around Sam’s dick as the hunter’s talented tongue did the impressive twist she loves so much.

They were in the middle of a very enthusiastic 69, with Sam’s dick half way down her throat and his tongue all the way inside her, when Sam’s fucking phone started to ring.

Sam made a move to get up but Natasha tightened her thighs around his head to keep him in place as she pulled away from his dick, but remained sitting on his face as he worked, to reach for the stupid phone.

“What do you want, Dean?” She growled into the phone, while biting down on another moan threatening to come out.

“Hello to you too, Nat.” she literally could hear Dean’s eye roll. “So you answer Sam’s phone now.”

“Sam’s mouth is busy doing more important things.” She smirked into the phone and let out a moan when Sam’s yelp made delicious vibrations inside her.

“I bet he is.” Tony’s smug voice sounded in the background. So they were on speaker. Nice.

“Okay. I-I didn’t need to know that. Ew.” She chuckled as she imagined the full body shiver that raked his body. “So, I guess he is not miserable and pouty then?”

“Oh, believe me, he is not. He is especially enjoys it when I lick his-“

“Alright! I will leave you guys to it! God! I don’t want to know what my brother enjoy in bed. Jesus!” he hung up but not before she heard Tony’s loud laughter, Steve’s embarrassed mumbling and Castiel’s amused chuckles.

“So, where were we?” she drawled sweetly after she returned the phone on the bedside table. She leaned back down to take Sam back into her mouth, while she felt his chuckling all the way inside her body.

 

 

   

  

 

   

    

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

“Alright, time to recap what we know.”

Dean started as he looked at his partners, who sat around him on the table. “Six people are dead. Bodies found thrown in places far away from where they were taken. Hearts messing and a look of pure terror on their faces. Like they were scared to death then got their hearts ripped after.”

“Before they were caught all the witnesses heard a sound. They described it as rocks being thrown down a hill or thunder.” Tony continued.

 “And I think it likes soldiers.” Steve added carefully. “All the victims served in the army and just got back from their tours.”

“That complicates things.” Dean frowned.

“Because the fear on their faces?”

“Yeah. I don’t know a lot that could do that to a person once they’ve been through the kinda hell that these guys went through.”

“I think we won’t know anything for sure until we see the bodies.” Castiel commented looking over at Dean.

“You’re right. I will go now to the morgue to get this over with.” Dean announced while standing up.

“Woah, wait.”

 “You’re going alone?!”

“I am coming with you!”

The three of them exclaimed together as they stared incredulously at him.

“What? Tony already been through enough today, and Steve, I don’t think it is a good idea to see dead bodies after all the grieving of today. As for you, you will lay down! You’re still healing.” Dean finished as he pointed at Castiel.

“You are not going alone.” Castiel glared at Dean angrily while standing up too.

“You are injured, Cas! You need to rest.”

“I know what I need, Dean. And by the way, you are injured too!”

“I am coming with you.” Steve interjected when he saw that Dean was about to shout again. “And nothing you say will manage to change my mind.”

“Fine.” Dean threw his hands in frustration and went to grab his jacket, then turned to Cas again. “Are you happy now?”

Cas just scowled and looked away from him without answering.

Tony trailed his eyes between all of them, while munching on leftover fries from their food.

“I am just glad that I get to stay here.” He beamed up at them earning a scowl from the Winchesters and rolled eyes from his husband.

***

“This is just… not right.”  

Steve uttered as the autopsy doctor left them to check the bodies. He was staring at the gaping holes in their chests and the look of pure terror on their faces with a sick feeling deep down his stomach.

“You get used to it.” Dean muttered checking the bodies. No signs of struggle, monster claws or any residue. “Rules out a couple more uglies. I don’t smell sulphur, so no demons either.” He stopped and sniffed the air. “There's a strange smell on all the bodies, but I can't place my finger on it. Can you?”

“Gunpowder.” Steve answered immediately after sniffing the air too. “But the old kind. Not the one used these days. Do you think it came from the monster?”

“Well, if it is on all of the victims’ bodies then there is no other explanation. This is getting confusing. I don’t know any monsters that leave gunpowder smell behind.”

“We should go back and tell Cas.” Steve suggested as he avoided looking at the bodies. “Maybe he will know what we are dealing with if he knew about this.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Dean looked him over for a second. “I thought you saw enough bodies in the war that you got used to it, how the hell are you still affected?”

“I don’t get used to things that easily.” He sighed tiredly. “Sure, I adapt pretty fast. But I need more time to adapt emotionally to anything. Some people think I am cold and practical. But really, I am not going to walk around showing how messed up I am.”

“Yeah, I get it.” Dean gave him a sympathetic smile. “I deal with things by trying to not think about them and ignore them. It’s not healthy according to Sam and Cas, even though they do the same thing sometimes, but I guess each one of us deals with his package in the any way that suit us. There’s nothing wrong in that.”

“I guess. Let’s just leave. It’s been a long day.”

***

“We're dealing with a Skilleret”

Castiel announced a few hours later when Steve and Dean came back to find Tony and Castiel watching Italian soap operas with rapt attention. Dean will never let him live this down. Tony will have to kill him to shut him up.

“That sounds like a band name.” Tony snorted.

  “Yes, well. It's not,” Castiel raised an eyebrow at him. “They were scattered all over Europe. The Skilleret is a monster that was first reported on the battle fields of the thirty years' war where it fed on the soldiers close to death, mostly when there were lots of wounded, they also carried them to nearby hideouts and stored them for later use. The Skilleret are actually a much older monsters and possibly originated in China.”

“Why China?” Dean asked in confusion.

“Because they were the first at inventing gunpowder, and from there it swept across India, Arabia and into Europe. Around the sixteen hundreds, people started making canons, which caused massive explosions. Obviously, you know what canons firing sounds like.”

“Stones pushed down a hill,” Dean pondered eyes lighting up.

“Thunder.” Steve added helpfully.

“Precisely,” Cas grinned, “And the smell you noticed?”

“Gunpowder,” Dean quipped. “Not like our guns smell these days, which is why I didn't recognize it, but definitely reminding me of fireworks.”

“Yes, exactly. Perfect disguise to feed back in the day with all those wars going on or with firecrackers exploding whenever people celebrated. But what used to function as their cloaking mechanism has nearly made them go extinct now.”

“Why?”

“Because it's not exactly inconspicuous, Dean!” Cas fumed, resting a very impressive bitch face in place. Man, even Tony was impressed.

“So? Their prey will be dead anyway. It's not as if they can run fast enough anywhere even when they hear that sound,” Dean said curtly, going to the fridge and pulling out four bottles of beer, and then coming back to the table, where they were setting with all the research, handing each one of them a bottle almost without thinking.

“Because hunters have brought them nearly to the point of extinction,” Cas continued as he accepted the bottle from Dean with a nod of thanks, “They were all over Europe and when the expansion to America really started, some of them got on the ships coming here. But not many of them survived the trip without fresh game. Think about it, weeks at sea and if nobody got sick or had a near deadly accident, they couldn't feed and if they didn't have a feast before they left, they would most likely starve.”

“So how did this one make it here?” Tony wondered as he drank his beer.

“That's what I've been trying to find out. Some of them must have made it and multiplied again, because the early settlement wasn't exactly peaceful, if you remember anything about history class.”

“Vaguely,” Dean quipped, nipping at his beer.

“Then there was the war for independence, and the civil war where they could feast. After that, slim pickings in terms of war. It seems like they collect as much as they need with about ten kills, but a monster being a monster, it will stuff itself if it has the chance. And then they breed.”

 

“Anything on how to kill it?” Steve asked, looking distractedly at his bottle.

“Not really, no.” Castiel pierced his lips in annoyance. “I never bothered to know that. But Sam uploaded the Men of letters library on Dean’s lap top. Maybe we could search it.”

“Well, we better start now.”

  


	9. Chapter 9

“Why doesn't the monster have a Chinese name?”

Tony asked curiously looking up at Castiel after researching for almost three hours. Steve decided to take a shower and Dean went to get dinner, since the both of them weren’t really the research type and was getting restless. Leaving Tony with Castiel yet again, who was most likely two seconds away from murdering him because of the amount of questions he was asking. He was bored, okay?

“Because no one ever named it. They didn't even know it existed, but the hunters a few decades ago searched for accounts were deaths seemed strange and traced the pattern back there. They named it.” He answered without looking up from the laptop.

“What do they feed on from the soldiers? Blood? Brains?”

“Fighting spirit.” The angel then looked up at him. “They took some of their designed victims and tried to terrify them as much as they could to see how resistant they were and then feed on their fighting spirit and robbed them of their will to live. Then, rip their hearts out and feed on it.”

 

“Wow. That’s…horrifying.” Tony grimaced, just then Steve came out of the bathroom clad in only a towel, still wet a little and his hair wild from drying it with a towel and Tony forgot about the monster. Hell, he forgot his own name, and just stared at every move his husband did with rapt attention. “Hey, soldier. Could you lower that towel a little so I could enjoy the view more fully?”

Steve turned and gave him a crooked smile that turned Tony’s insides into mush and found himself grinning back automatically like an idiot.

“Please, don’t do that.” Castiel muttered as he returned his gaze back to the laptop. “Dean will throw a fit if you decided to defile the room. Also I am still here and I’m not sure how to feel about this.”

“Oh, come on.  How can I resist all this sexiness standing in front of me?” Tony whined, while Steve just chuckled as he started to dress. “Why too soon? It is hot! Is it hot in here? Or am I the only one feeling hot? God, you’re hot.”

Steve was now downright laughing at Tony’s rambling, even Castiel let out a chuckle as Tony rambled and ogled his husband at the same time.

The door opened then to reveal Dean carrying the food bags. Tony watched as Castiel’s attention was immediately pulled towards the hunter and watched as he removed his jacket and undershirt since it was really hot in the room. Cas’ eyes went a little darker and Dean looked up when he felt the angel’s gaze on him only, for the hunter to stare at him with the same look as he looked Castiel up and down. The angel was dressed in a white shirt with his sleeves rolled up and Tony had to admit he looked good all laid back like that. He couldn’t blame Dean for staring.

Okay, so all of them were sexually frustrated. This is terrible.

Steve cleared his throat loudly making Dean and Castiel jump and look back at him with wide eyes, like they forgot that he and Tony were there in the room with them. Steve just raised his eyebrows with an amused smile on his face.

“Right. Food. I brought Chinese.” Dean shook his head to clear it and moved to put the food on the table where Cas and Tony were setting.

Steve chuckled as he sat on the chair next to Tony, while the genius smirked at Dean who glared back at him.

“So, did you find anything, baby?” Dean asked while they ate.

“Yes, I think I found something.” Castiel frowned as he searched through his notes. “I found a lot of useful information in one of the men of letters books, it says that a dose of their own medicine will kill them. Now we just need to find a traditional gunpowder.”

“Do you have any idea where we can start looking for that?” Steve asked curiously.

“We will think of something. Even if we have to bring out our old chemistry set.” Dean shrugged.

“Shouldn't be too hard then,” Tony said excitedly. “Finally something I could do. I know what we will need. Finish your food and we will head out. I need to do something! I am going crazy from setting around.”

“Alright, alright, jeez.” Dean rolled his eyes at him. “We will go get the stuff we will need after we eat. I really want to get this over with.” Dean stopped for a second and looked at Castiel. “How are you feeling? It’s been a long day and you didn’t rest enough.”

“I’m fine, Dean. How are _you_?” Castiel raised a meaningful eyebrow at him. “You didn’t rest much either.”

“I’m good. You’re the one with the spinal injury.”

“And you have a head injury. That’s not better.”

“Or worse.”

“Cas.”

“Dean.”

Dean sighed and controlled his temper. “I’m fine. If I don’t feel fine I will let you know if you did the same. Okay?”

Castiel stopped for a second and met Steve’s eyes, who raised an eyebrow at him but Cas ignored it and turned back to Dean. “Alright.”

They ate in a comfortable silence for a few minutes. Tony didn’t realize how badly he needed to do something. He felt helpless the moment he came here. He was out of his element. For the first time in a while, he was very aware of his slim frame in comparison with the three men in the room. How short he was next to them. How helpless he was without his armor. Even though his fighting skills without the suit improved, he was still not as good as the others. Dean and Castiel didn’t need armors to fight the monsters they face. Steve will be able to hold himself up fast enough. On the other hand, all of this wasn’t his area. No tech he could use to help or anything. He felt like he might slow them down. Hell, even talking to witnesses stressed him out.

Maybe he should have told Natasha to come instead of him. She would have helped them more. Until now, he didn’t do anything except having meltdowns.

He felt Steve’s hand on his knee and he glanced up to see him looking at him in concern, probably sensing Tony’s self-loathing with his Tony-radar.

Tony controlled his face into a smirk as he took Steve’s hand in his and moved it up his own leg a little until it rested on the inside of his thigh.

Steve raised an eyebrow at him but smirked back and started to move his hand a little higher, higher until-

A foot kicked Tony’s shin under the table. He yelped and hit his knee into the table so his yelp changed into a groan.

“Seriously? We are in the same freaking room.” Dean, the owner of the fucking foot, scowled at him. “I am keeping my hands to myself. So will you.”

“I didn’t get laid in two days, dude.” Tony groaned as he pressed his face into Steve’s shoulder in despair, who seemed to try and set comfortably in his chair with the obvious situation in his pants.

“Neither did I, but you don’t see me trying to jump Cas on the table where we are all eating.” Dean’s scowl strengthened, if that was even possible. “Come on, get up. We will head out before you decide to turn the room into an orgy where we will all see each other’s naked pits.”

“Thanks Dean for successfully killing my boner.” Tony grimaced at the picture in his head. Ew. Just ew.

“You’re welcome.”

 “I think I just threw up in my mouth. Let’s just go.”

***

“Is that everything?” Dean asked looking inside the bags.

“Let’s review.” Tony said as he checked the list. “Crystalized Potassium Nitrate?”

“Check.”

“Activated Charcoal?”

“Ahuh.”

“Powdered Sulfur?”

“Yup.”

“Digital Ounces Scale?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Fine mesh sieve?”

“Sure.”

“2 Glass Mixing Containers?”

“Yes.”

“How did you manage to find six different responses with the same meaning?”

“I am awesome like that.”

“Sure, whatever. This is all of it. Now we can make our own homemade gunpowder. Let’s head back.”

On the drive back to the motel Dean turned curious eyes towards Tony.

“Hey, what’s up with you, by the way? You have been down since we came back from the last witness’ house.”

“Nothing. I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be fine?” Tony just shrugged carelessly.

“Yeah, and I am a little girl named Amanda.” Dean rolled his eyes at him. “Just spit it out, dude. Talking makes me want to vomit too, but two minutes won’t kill either of us.”

Tony was silent for a few seconds before sighing in defeat. “I just feel useless, that’s all.”

“Seriously?” Dean looked at him like he was an idiot. “You? Are you drunk?”

“What? No. come on, Dean. I didn’t do anything today except having meltdowns and laying around like a potato. And when we have to fight that bastard, I will just going to slow you guys down without my armor.”

“Can you fire a gun?”

“Huh? Yes, but-“

“Can you throw a punch?”

“Yeah-“

“Then you’re going to be fine. You are not weak or helpless. You’re Tony fucking Stark. Sure, you’re out of your comfort zone right now, but you always manage to find your footing just fine. So, don’t worry about it.”

Tony blinked at Dean in shock for a few seconds before smiling a little. “Thanks, dude.”

“No, thank _you_ guys.” Dean sighed and looked at him. “For coming with us. For your help. We really needed that. You didn’t have to, but you did anyway. Thanks. ”

“You’re going to make me cry, Winchester.” Tony rolled his eyes but he was smiling. “You really did turn into a little girl. Do you want a hug, Amanda?”

“Asshole.” Dean snorted.

“Dick.”

“Shut up.”

“You shut up.”

“Really mature.”

“Look who’s talking.”

They reached the motel then, and Dean parked the car. They got out of the car and walked towards the room.

“Why the lights are out?” Tony asked in confusion as he looked at the dark windows.

Dean shrugged in equal confusion and opened the door. “Guys? We’re back.” Dean announced to their dark motel room, flicking the light on and dumping the bags in his hands on the floor in another moment, because the signs of struggle were evident everywhere inside. “Cas?!” Dean shouted, whipping out his gun and stalking further into the room. “Steve?!” he flicked the ripped comforter off one of the beds and checked the bathroom that had a broken window. “Cas, no,” his chest heaved as he examined it, and ran back outside, passing a frozen Tony, checking if he could see anything outside, but nothing. No signs of Cas or Steve or the creature, and Dean sat on the ground, his knees suddenly weak and so he just flopped down with a dull thud, while hearing the familiar footsteps of Tony, who dropped down next to him.

“They’re soldiers.” Tony whispered brokenly, looking like he was in a shock. “Both of them.”

Dean looked up at him, feeling dread filling his entire body. “It took them.” He bit out painfully. “Son of a bitch took them.”

 

 

 

 

     


	10. Chapter 10

Steve woke up with a pained groan and immediately realized a few important things.

First, he was in a dark room and there was only a dim light from an open door that led into a corridor illuminated by electrical light. Second, there was no telling how far he had to go if he'd manage to slip the restraints around his wrists and ankles, tying him to a very uncomfortable chair, and third the back of his head hurt like a bitch, he wasn't sure he could stay conscious for much longer.

Last thing he remembered was the motel room’s door suddenly opening, revealing a man that took them by surprise and flung them across the room. He remembers Cas staggering back to his feet but was swaying heavily since he wasn’t healed completely yet. He got back to his feet fast and threw himself on the attacker to keep him away from Castiel, then after fighting brutally for a few minutes he felt a hard hit on the back of his head, then everything went black.

He tried to break the restraints but realized with a shock that it was reinforced chains, like it was made specifically for him. That made him frown in confusion as he tried to make his pained head work correctly.

He moved his head painfully to the side and his pain intensified when he saw Castiel tied down to another chair next to him, but the angel had a pinched, pained look on his sweaty face. Since when Castiel sweats?

“Cas? Are you alright?” Steve rasped trying to move to see Castiel properly. “Are you hurt? Did that thing hurt you?”

The angel opened his eyes halfway and glanced at him. Thanks to Steve’s enhanced vision, he could clearly see how pale Castiel’s face was in the dark.

“The sigil on the floor.” Castiel bit out in a pained voice. “It is blocking my grace. My unhealed injuries are making themselves painfully known.”

He looked down to see a complicated looking sigil drawn under Castiel’s chair.

“Shit. Fucking shit.” Steve swore as he tried to free his hands, but the chains were too fucking strong.

“You owe your jar a dollar.” Castiel murmured with a weak smile.

“Fuck the jar, Cas.” Steve almost shouted from how worried he feels. “What injuries do you have besides the old ones? Don’t lie to me. I’ll know.”

“I might have been stabbed in my side and shoulder during the fight and the wounds aren’t healing.” Castiel admitted after hesitating for a few seconds, his head leaning heavily to the side.

“Dammit.” Steve groaned and tried to free himself again.

The door opened then, revealing the man who attacked them in the room, who, obviously, was the monster they were hunting.

“Oh, good. You’re awake.” He grinned at them and came closer. “You two are heavier than you look. Took a lot of effort to carry your fat asses over here. But it was worth it. I have been waiting for this moment long enough.” He got closer to Castiel and leaned towards him to sniff his neck. The angel moved his head away in disgust. “The spirit you got in you. You're unique. I never smelled anything so strong. Not surprising for someone who fought wars for thousands of years. And you.” He turned then to Steve with the same grin. “The famous Captain America. A survivor from the Second World War. The living legend. You smell almost as strong. Just like I imagined. I was right to pick the two of you.”

“Pick?” Steve breathed out as everything started to fall in place inside his head fast. “You are not alone. There’s others. You planned the whole thing from the start to bring us here. You planned the accident!”

“So you’re not just a dull soldier, after all.” The bastard smirked at him. “We are almost close to extinction. Very few of us had left. The soldiers we fed on aren’t enough for us to breed. We are dying from hunger. So, I came up with the idea. To hunt an Avenger. You fight in wars so you qualify as soldiers. So, we watched you closely to choose who would be suitable to make us strong enough to breed. We picked the two of you. Your smells were stronger. Unique. Your fighting spirits practically called for us. So we planned everything. The killings to lure you in. The car accident that would certainly have led your sweet, kind heart to insist to come here with the Winchesters. We prepared the grace blocking sigil and the reinforced chains. Everything worked out as we planned.”

“You killed innocent people to get us here? Do you have any idea of how many families you destroyed?” Steve shouted in anger.

“Collateral damage.” The monster shrugged carelessly. “They were good snacks, though. You on the other hand, are the main course. A feast.”

“You can’t break us.” Castiel rambled angrily, raising his head defiantly even with his injuries.

“See? That’s exactly why we picked you.” The man laughed. “You two are the best meal we will ever have. And it will kill your significant others to see you dead and broken at their feet. Oh, did that trigger you?” he sniffed the air like their smell intensified at the mention of Tony and Dean. “How sweet. We should just get them here, so you'll all smell riper than before. They are pretty feisty I give you that, you two have almost the same type in men apparently, but they got nothing on you. They never fought in a real war like the two of you. But they will be a good snack.” he walked around Cas, sniffing him now and again, before he actually licked across Cas' cheek.

“You’re disgusting.” Steve scoffed as he wriggled in his chair again.

“I know,” the monster snickered. “But that's hardly something you need to worry about for much longer. I'll let you stew now, have you trying to come up with ideas to get out of here, that will make you taste even sweeter when I take it all from you,” he ripped Cas' head up by his hair one last time, sniffing the former Angel's pulse point while Cas groaned from the pain and disgust over the man moving his nose on his throat.

“Hey! Get off of him!” Steve growled angrily.

“Scrumptious,” the man moaned, completely ignoring Steve, and let go of Cas, leaving them alone and by the sounds of it, sliding a metal door shut which put them into complete darkness and Steve almost wished he was unconscious again.

“Cas?” Steve whispered worriedly.

“Hmmm?” Cas hummed and Steve could see he was slipping away.

“Cas, you have to stay with me. Don’t lose conscious. You have to stay awake.” He tried to move his chair to get closer to the angel.

“How can I pass out in peace with you shouting in my ears?” Castiel snorted tiredly and moved his head to look at Steve. “Besides, I am too busy bleeding all over the floor to do that, so don’t worry.”

Steve’s heart was beating loudly in his chest in worry at the delirious way Castiel was speaking with.

“Castiel, you are going to be alright. We will get out of here. I promise.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, Captain, but I am dying.” Castiel let out a humorless laugh. “I will probably die before they manage to take anything from me. Shame on them.”

“You’re not going to die.” Steve promised in a determined voice. “You will hold on and we will work together to find a way out of this. I am not letting you die that easily. I am stubborn enough to do it.”

“Yes, I know.” Castiel smiled weakly at him. “I just hope your stubbornness will be enough this time.”

 


	11. Chapter 11

“How the hell did that thing manage to take an angel and a super soldier?!”

Tony yelled as he tried very hard not to panic. His hands were already shaking as fear spread through his body. Every time he blinked he imagined Steve’s body with a hole in his chest and a terrified face, and he couldn’t shake that fucking image from his head long enough to process what’s happening.

“Obviously Cas wasn’t completely honest with me about the state of his injuries, which is something I should have expected but I am a fucking idiot.” Dean fumed angrily as he worked on his laptop a little too aggressively. Apparently, he chose anger to deal with the situation, which was a better option than the panic Tony decided to choose.

“Okay, that explains Cas. How the hell did they take Steve?”

That made Dean stop and stare blankly at the laptop screen, like Tony’s question had struck him and made him think hard about the answer.

“There’s more than one.” Dean whispered as he stared up at Tony with wide eyes. “It is not a single monster. They are a group.” He trailed his eyes around the room looking lost. “It was a trap. All along.”

“What makes you say that?”

“This is the only explanation that makes sense! The only way to capture Steve is by taking him off guard, and that’s impossible, unless he was too busy fighting one and another attacked him from behind. Same goes with Cas. Which meant that those monsters were preparing for that for a while. Like they had their eyes on Steve and Cas and considered them the perfect meal.”

“You mean they were watching us for a while?” Tony felt dread spread through him at the thought. “And they planned the accident to lead for us to come here with you?”

“Exactly. A trap and we walked right into it.” Dean groaned as he went back to aggressively work on his laptop.

“What are you doing? Should we, I don’t know, try to find our husbands or something? Before their will to live and fucking hearts got ripped the fucking away from them?” Tony was almost on full on panic mode now as he yelled.

“That’s exactly what I am doing. Almost on Cas’ location now where Steve will definitely be with him.” Dean answered as he continued to work.

“How?” Tony walked over to Dean to see what he was doing.

“Remember the locket I gave Cas on Christmas?”

“Yeah, the one that held a picture from your wedding?”

“Yeah, that’s the one. I knew Cas will never take it off, so I put a tracer on it for situations like this.”

“You gave your husband a tracking device on Christmas? That’s fucking genius! How did I not think about doing that?”

“Yeah, I am sure Steve would have loved it.” Dean muttered distractedly as he stared at the laptop.

Suddenly, the mention of Steve’s name struck Tony hard. Because Steve wasn’t here. He was taken by a monster that eats fighting spirits and hearts. The most two important things in his husband and suddenly he couldn’t breathe anymore.

He backed up a few steps until his back hit the wall. He tried to remember how to breathe properly. He clutched at his chest and panic ripped through him when he didn’t feel his arc reactor. His terror filled brain made him forget that he no longer had the reactor thanks to Castiel, who was also taken by the same monsters that took his husband. All his brain told him then was that he couldn’t breathe and the arc reactor wasn’t there, which meant it was ripped away from him. Again.

“Hey! Hey, Tony! I need you to calm down.” Dean gripped his shoulders a little tighter than usual. “Look, I am freaking out over here. I can’t do this on my own, so I need you to calm yourself as much as you could, so we can deal with this. Can you do this? For Steve’s sake?”

Tony took a few deep breaths for a couple of minutes before nodding that he was vaguely alright. He had to be alright. For Steve. And for Castiel.

“What do you need me to do?” He asked in a strained voice.

“I found their location. Now, I need you to wake the little chemist inside you, so we can make the gunpowder we will need to take those bastards out. Will you do that?”

“Don’t ask stupid questions.”

***

Castiel must have passed out at some point from the pain for a few minutes, if the panic in Steve’s voice was anything to go by.

“Oh, God. You’re alive.” Steve’s body sagged in relief. “You scared the hell out of me. Don’t do that again.”

“Sorry.” Castiel muttered drowsily. The pain was too much. He could feel his own blood running down from his injuries to cover the floor below. He couldn’t even release himself from the restraints to put pressure on his wounds. But he had to hold on. Dean would be pissed if he died. Again.

He looked down at the stupid sigil, which was drawn under his feet, helplessly. If it broke just a little his grace would be able to save him.

He looked up at Steve with too much effort.

“Steve? Can you do something for me?” he asked, his voice was getting weaker since it was becoming hard to talk.

“Of course. Anything. What do you need?” Steve answered, eager to help him in any way.

“The sigil. Can you erase a part of it with your feet?”

He saw him look down at the sigil and his brow furrowed in concentration.

“Alright. Hold on, I will try to get closer and do it.”

***

Dean watched Tony arranging the things he will need to make the gunpowder, so as he waited he tried to concentrate on the bond between him and Cas to check on him.

It gets difficult to feel him completely when they were far apart, but his presence was always there lingering in the corners of his soul, so he tried to concentrate on that part. Tried to reach out for his husband.

Suddenly, he felt a raging pain in his side and shoulder, that made him unable to breathe from its intensity and he fell to his knees when he realized what that pain meant.

Castiel was hurt. Badly. And he wasn’t healing. God, how did normal people breathe again? Because he was failing at doing that right now. How did he convince Tony to breathe earlier? Who was he kidding? He can’t do this. He can’t concentrate when Cas wasn’t here. When he was hurt and taken away from him. It was his fault.  

“Dean?” Tony called out in concern when he saw Dean holding his head with both hands and rocking back and forth. “Woah, Dean.” Suddenly, he was kneeling in front of the hunter. “Steady. Deep breaths. Come on, did you pull me out of my panic attack so you can panic in peace?”

“I'm fine,” Dean croaked.

“No you're not,” Tony disagreed, and waited patiently for Dean to contain himself.

“I have to be,” Dean bit out. This was all his fault. He insisted on coming on this hunt. He put Castiel and Steve in this situation.

He took a few deep breaths. Panicking won’t help Cas and Steve. It will only waste more time they don’t have.

“Did you prepare everything?” he asked in a strained voice.

“Yeah, come on. Let’s make the gunpowder now to not waste time.”

They worked silently for a few seconds, until the silence of the room got on their nerves.

They mixed the first batch of powder, abandoning the idea to use cold packs because they had found enough crystallized potassium nitrate, which was the core ingredient of gunpowder. They then mixed it carefully with a small amount of pulverized charcoal and a bit of sulfur.

Tony added a few drops of water, even though Dean was a bit anxious, seeing how he shook as he added it. He really didn't want to be blown to bits now, but Tony proved his nerves by managing everything, while Dean readied empty shotgun shells to fill their ammunition in.

Tony brought the bowl over to Dean at the table, who started to fill the shells faster than he should.

“Woah woah, Dean. Slow down. I know you wanna get them back, but we won't do them any good if we're blown to bits.”

“Dammit, I know,” Dean bit out, filling the shells at the same speed as before. “I swear, man, if something happen-”

“Nothing will happen. We will get to them on time.” Tony assured Dean, who had already filled twice as many shells as he had.

“We better.” Dean shook his head, loading his sawed off and starting to pack everything together, while Tony took over filling the shells.

 

 

      


	12. Chapter 12

Steve was still trying desperately to reach with his feet towards the sigil around Cas to erase a part of it, but his chair was too far and his muscles started to strain from the effort as the pain in his head increased.

“Cas? You still holding up?” he asked worriedly, as he tried to reach out further.

“Yes, I’m fine.” He gritted out between sharp pants.

“How convincing. I totally believe you.” Steve barely managed to not roll his eyes at the obvious lie.

“Don’t sass me. I get cranky when I am close to death.” Castiel glared weakly at him and Steve’s heart clinched at how pale he was.

“Do you have any idea how many monsters are there?” he asked instead to busy himself.

“Six. I can feel six of them in the building right now.”

“Shit.”

 Just when Steve finally managed to reach the edge of the sigil, the door opened with a rusty grating sound and he squinted his eyes as light hit them after being in the dark for too long.

He hurriedly erased a small part of the sigil before retreating his leg and was happy to hear the sigh of relief that came from Castiel.

“Honeys, I'm home,” the monster whispered into his ear with a satisfied huff, fondling Steve’s torso and sniffing him, his nose buried in Steve’s unruly, sweaty hair. “Hmm, you're both even better now. All matured and ready for the taking,” he purred.

Steve shivered in disgust as he felt the monster’s tongue trailed up his neck.

“Come on, boys and girls. Come enjoy the meal of your lives.” The monster called out towards the door.

Two males and three females entered the room then and let out pleasurable sounds as they sniffed the air in the room. Steve felt several sets of hands trail up his body and a couple of noses being pressed to his neck, and he was seriously about to throw up. Castiel was also getting the same treatment.

“Just leave him be.” Castiel breathed out, ignoring the groping and licking he was getting. “I will be enough. Just let him go.”

“Cas, what-“ A slap fell on Castiel’s cheek harshly then. “Hey! Lay off him, you piece of shit!”

“Shut up, asshole. Just relax.” The monster grinned. “It will be over soon.”

***

 Tony and Dean arrived at the very same time outside of the garage of the old abandoned house, where Cas and Steve supposedly in, and gave themselves quiet signs to file in, flashlights and shotguns at the ready.

“Go,” Dean mouthed, covering Tony, who busted in through the door and saw the six Skillerets surrounding their husbands, a crimson light glowing somewhere over Cas' and Steve’s gullets just when Tony aimed at the closest monster, shot and grazed its shoulder.

“Damn it, Tony,” Dean shouted as the Skilleret hissed and moved back from Cas and Steve, not badly hurt and holding its arm, the wound on it hissing almost as badly as the monster itself. Suddenly, all six monsters turned to them sharply and charged at them.

“I didn't wanna hurt Cas or Steve,” Tony shouted back, reloading and firing at one of the charging monsters, their faces contorted even in the semi-darkness.

Dean shot three monsters down before they managed to reach him and Tony succeeded to shot down another two. The element of surprise did them good, which caused the monsters to flop around clumsily and was easier to shot down.

The last one raced towards Tony faster than the others, his mouth looking round like a slimy abyss as he sucked in air, a red light appearing in Tony’s neck, startling Dean so he lost his aim and the shot he was firing missed the monster by at least a foot.

“Tony!” Steve screamed as he tried to release himself violently, while Castiel thrashed in his chair even with his obvious injuries.

Tony clutched his neck in horror, swallowing against the glowing ruby light, which made the monster stop for a second, before it kicked the shotgun out of Tony's surprised hands and grabbed him around the neck, Dean obviously not able to shoot anymore, afraid to hurt Tony instead of the monster.

“You killed my family.” The monster, obviously the strongest one of them, groused in pure anger. “Your spirit is not as strong as them, but your feisty nature made up for it. I will feed on your significant other right in front of your eyes, that will make your spirit riper and stronger, much more fulfilling.” he pressed his nose into Tony's hair, which he countered with a disgusted pursing of his lips and a groan. “How much I'll enjoy eating you is not to be put into words,” it turned to Dean, who was trying to move quietly to the monster’s back to shot it, it frowned and moved Tony forward with an iron grip around his throat, until he was close enough to let Dean feel a painful burning in his throat as well.

He clutched his neck much like Tony had done, swallowing against the sizzling feeling that crippled him, his arms shaking so that he could barely hold his weapon.

“Nice bouquet, the four of you,” the monster complimented with a sneer. “You're stronger than this one, but not as pure and strong as these two over there. Yet, I think you'll taste great as well. Particularly after I ate these three first,” he hollowed his cheeks, an iron grip around Tony's chest and bending his neck with inhuman strength to suck Tony's spirit out.

Tony wriggled himself in the monster's grip, Dean aiming again but not getting a clear shot, also disturbed by Cas' troubled breathing, the way he tried to turn on his chair and Steve’s violent thrashing in his chair.

Focus, he thought, seeing a dedication in Tony’s eyes even in the dim light and he reacted instinctively when Tony made a sudden movement, pressing the ball of his hand under the monsters chin with a sharp tug that made it clench it's teeth together and loosen its hold for all of a second, which Tony used to turn its back towards Dean.

He finally had a clear shot, aimed and hit the monster square in the back. The wound hissed just like the shoulder hit, but this time it had done the trick. The Skilleret fell down and Tony was able to grab his shotgun, while Dean stormed off to check on Cas.

Tony aimed at the monster again, which screamed in agony but wasn't dead yet and shot his second shell into its chest until it finally stopped moving, then ran to release his own husband.

“Tony! Are you hurt? Did it hurt you?” Steve was asking frantically as he looked Tony over.

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” Tony reassured him calmly and took his face gently in his hands. “What about you? Are you alright?”

“A little banged up, but I will manage.” Steve smiled sweetly at him and Tony’s heart almost gave out in his chest. He almost lost that beautiful smile. “My knight in shining flannel.”

Tony chuckled breathlessly and leaned forward to kiss Steve’s lips softly. “I do look knightly in flannel.”

As he released Steve he was startled by Dean’s frantic shouting.

“Cas! Cas, baby, open your eyes for me, please.” Dean begged frantically as he untied the angel from his chair.

Castiel shivered weakly for a few seconds, before opening his eyes a little, which looked too bright on his pale face. “’m fine.” He slurred weakly. “Grace healing. ‘ll be fine.” Then he practically fell into Dean’s arms limply. 

“Dammit, Cas.” Dean breathed shakily as he held Castiel’s shivering body close to him. “Are you ever going to stop scaring me?”

“Probably not.”

“Come on, we have to get him out of here.” Steve said as he got up staggering a little before Tony wrapped his arm around his back to steady him.

 

  

 


	13. Chapter 13

Castiel opened his eyes suddenly and stared blankly at the ceiling for a few moments trying to remember what the hell happened.

Last thing he remembered was the Skillerets trying to suck his fighting spirit, then Dean and Tony stormed in. he remembers shooting, panic rising in his chest, Dean’s gentle hands on him, then nothing.

“Rise and shine, Feather Head.” He heard Steve’s voice coming from beside him and he turned his head to see the super soldier sitting on the other bed in the room with his head bandaged up and a gentle smile on his face. “You gave us quite the scare, buddy. Why do I get the feeling that you do this on purpose? You enjoy making us panic over you every few weeks?”

“Yes, I quite enjoy hurting myself to see if my family cared enough about me to panic.” Castiel rolled his eyes with a small smile of his own.

“I knew it. You are a sadistic bastard.”

“Thank you. It is nice of you to say that.” He chuckled before he looked Steve over more thoroughly. He was quite banged up. He had a black eye, busted lips and his wrests looked bloody and swollen, probably from trying to violently release himself from the restraints earlier. If he wasn’t healed yet that meant Castiel wasn’t out long. Either that or Steve’s healing factor wasn’t working properly. “You look terrible.”

“Thank you. It is nice of you to say that.” Steve rolled his good eye. “You look worse by the way. Be glad you are not looking in a mirror right now.”

“Why can’t I feel pain? I couldn’t have healed this fast.”

“Pain killers. You were in a lot of pain, so Dean gave you a nice dose of pain killers. We both did. I think those bastards injected us with something that blocked our healing factors but it seems like it is wearing off. Your injuries looks better already.”

“Your healing isn’t working?”

“It’s working, but slower than usual. Don’t worry about it. Focus on yourself for a change.”

“I will do that when you do it.”

“Hey, that’s not fair. Don’t turn this on me.”

Castiel chuckled and looked around the room. “The room is quiet, so I am guessing Dean and Tony aren’t here?”

“I sent them outside. They were driving me insane from how jittery and nervous they were. They are acting like if they blink we will both disappear into thin air. Which is sweet but not sweet to my constant headache.”

“How long was I out?”

“About a day and a half.”

“And the monsters?”

“All dead. Guess now we can go home.”

“Yeah, I guess.” He looked at Steve carefully. “Sorry your first hunt was like this. You shouldn’t have been in the middle of this mess.”

“Hey, you and the Winchesters didn’t have to be in our mess either. But you did without complaining. Besides,” Steve smiled again even if it seems it was hurting his busted lips. “We’re family, Cas. Your mess is our mess. This is never going to change.”

“Then we are in a big mess.” Castiel snorted but he was smiling gratefully at Steve.

“Nothing new in that.” Steve just shrugged then groaned in pain. Apparently, his shoulders hurt too. “Yeah, the pain killers are definitely starting to wear off. Peachy.”

“Guess you will have to let them back in to give you more.” Cas looked innocently at his friend, who scowled at him.

“Fine. But if Tony asked me if I was okay for the hundredth time I will punch him.” He thought for a few seconds then added. “Gently.”

***

Outside, Dean and Tony were sitting in the car sulking as they waited to be let back in.

Dean was getting agitated. He needs to stay by Cas’ side. Last time he left him, he almost became the monsters new meal. He knows that Cas wasn’t weak in anyway, but he was injured and this was scaring him. The mere idea of losing his husband again was too much. He won’t survive it this time. He barely managed before, now he could no longer do it. He can no longer live a day without Castiel. He just can’t.

He looked over at Tony who was unusually quiet. He saw him staring down at his hands silently, looking lost in his own head. The silence was starting to get on his nerves and he had to break it.

“Hey, Frowny face, why are you pouting?” Dean nudged him with his shoulder to make him look up.

Tony looked at him blankly for a few seconds, like he was trying to remember where he was, before shaking his head in an attempt to clear it.

“Nothing.” He sighed tiredly. “Just trying to wrap my head around what happened.”

“Yeah, congrats by the way! For killing your first monster. See? You weren’t helpless after all.” Dean clapped him on the shoulder with a small smile.

“You know, I can tell why you never stopped hunting.” Dean blinked at him in confusion, so he continued. “You save lives. By killing those bastards you saved lots of lives and the people don’t even know what you did.” Tony gave him a genuine smile that caught Dean off guard. “You guys are heroes long before we met. Long before I became Iron Man. Almost your whole lives.”

Dean was honestly surprised at the respect he saw in Tony’s eyes then. Sure, it was always there even when they were bickering like five year olds but it seems to get stronger.

“Thanks, man.” Dean smiled back at him, a little rattled at the praise. “Did I tell you before that I met Cas for the first time on the same year you became Iron Man?”

“Wait, what? No way.” Tony’s eyes widened as he looked at him in surprise.

“Yeah. The weirdest part is that I died almost around the same time you were kidnapped and Cas raised me from hell just by the time you were rescued. Weird, huh?”

Tony stared at him, trying to comprehend all of this. “That is just- Wow. That was a really big year for the both of us, wasn’t it?” Tony frowned a little as he remembered something. “You know what? I have a childhood friend that also on the same year had a-“

He was interrupted by Dean’s gasp as he turned sharply towards the motel room’s closed door. “Cas is awake.” He whispered with a relieved grin. Obviously knew that by the bond between them.

He was out of the car fast, while Tony struggled to follow him.

“We are still banned from the room.” Tony reminded him carefully as he trailed behind him.

“Oh, come on! I need to check on him, he almost scared me to death.”

Tony opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by a text coming to his phone. He smiled when he saw it was from Steve asking him to come back to the room. “Okay, we’re good.”

Dean opened the door and the moment he entered the room his eyes landed on Castiel, who turned his head towards him and gave the hunter a warm smile. “Hello, Dean.”

The familiar greeting was enough to make Dean’s knees go weak as he smiled a little wobbly at his husband but he didn’t care, his angel was finally awake. “Hey, Cas.”

Next thing he knew, he was by Castiel’s side and nudging him to scoot a little so he could lie beside him. Castiel obliged with his smile still intact. Dean laid on the bed and rested his head on Castiel’s chest to hear the reassuring sound of his heartbeat. The angel’s hand rested on his head to card through his hair gently.

Dean opened his eyes a little to see that Steve was laying on his side on the other bed, wincing a little at the headache that must be still bothering him. Tony climbed on the bed behind him and wrapped his arms around Steve tightly, pressing him back against his chest and kissed Steve’s temple gently, earning a warm, sweet smile from his husband even with his obvious pain.

“Can we go home now?” Steve murmured tiredly as he scooted closer to Tony’s warmth.

Dean looked up to see that all three of them were looking at him expectantly. Castiel raised an eyebrow at him and Dean chuckled at the warning there.

“Yeah, let’s go home.”

***

It took them hours to get back to the tower. The drive was stressing to all of them. Castiel wasn’t even half way healed and spent the whole drive laying in Dean’s lap in the backseat, with Steve in the passenger seat groaning in pain every few minutes as Tony drove.

Yup, that’s right. Dean Winchester actually allowed Tony to drive the Impala. Tony thought that Dean completely lost his mind when he handed him the keys, while Castiel and Steve stared at the hunter with wide eyes. Tony couldn’t wipe the huge smile from his face for the entire drive much to the others’ amusement.

When they reached the tower’s garage, they all breathed a sigh of relief at being home.

“I’m probably going to sleep for a week.” Steve muttered as he got out of the car to help Dean with Castiel.

“I’m just glad we are far away from that hideous motel room.” Tony shook his head as he went to get the elevator, while Steve and Dean helped Castiel walk.

“Believe it or not, that was one of cleanest rooms we ever been to.” Dean commented with a smirk.  “So you should feel lucky.”

“Lucky me.” Tony rolled his eyes as they all entered the elevator.

“Do you think they managed to murder each other while we were gone?” Castiel wondered curiously.

“Oh, come on. They are adults. I am sure they managed to be civil in our absence.” Steve answered as he adjusted his grip on Castiel.

The elevator reached the penthouse then and they stepped out, only to stop and stare at the scene.

Well, the place was pretty much destroyed. The living room turned into a huge mess of couches and armchairs with the TV broken and burning on the floor. The Kitchen was completely black with some places in it that were still on fire. Scorch marks on the floor, glass windows shattered, food plates stuck on the ceiling and a huge hole in the wall that looked suspiciously like the Hulk.

“You were saying?” Dean looked over at Steve with a raised eyebrow.

“I am injured. Don’t take any word I say right now seriously.” Steve groaned as he trailed his eyes around the ruined place.

Thor emerged from one corner and grinned when he saw them.

“My friends! You have returned!” he hollered loudly with a huge grin on his face. “You were thoroughly missed those past few days.”

“Thanks, Thor.” Tony looked around the room again. “What the hell happened?”

“Oh, we had a little disagreement about cooking.” Thor answered with a sheepish shrug as he walked over to them. “The Captain and Dean are usually the ones who cooks our meals. So, in your absence it got a little complicated.”

“What?” Steve asked tiredly.

“Well, Natasha tried to cook but her meatballs could kill more beasts than a battle-axe, I think it managed to bruise my insides. James’ cooking was much better but it felt like I was eating hellfire from how spicy it was. Hawkeye tried next but only managed to make the stove explode. So, I tried to grill a few steaks by using Mjolnir and lightening. It worked! With a few side effects I am afraid.”

“I can’t imagine why.” Tony groaned. “Why is there a Hulk shaped hole in the wall?”

“My lightening hit Banner and that got him a little upset.” Thor scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

“Where’s Sam in all of this?” Dean asked a little nervously. “Please tell me he was far away while you were barbecuing.”

“Oh, don’t worry! He decided to hide in his and Natasha’s room until you get back.”

“I can’t really blame him.” Castiel murmured with a chuckle.

Clint emerged from one of the still intact rooms.

“Hey! Mom and Dad are back!” he exclaimed happily.

“Steve and I better be the dad part.” Tony raised an eyebrow at him.

“Sorry, Stark. You and Cap are definitely the mom part.” Clint smirked at him.

“That makes me and Cas the dad. In your face, Tin man.” Dean laughed at Tony’s scowling face.

“Come on! This isn’t fair!”

“It is.”

“No, it’s not!”

Soon the others started to trudge into the destroyed room when they heard their loud bickering.

“You look like you got hit by a truck.” Bucky deadpanned when he saw Steve.

“Thanks, Buck. Good to see you too.” Steve rolled his eyes as he and Dean started to move Castiel to get him to bed.

“What the hell happened?” Sam asked anxiously as he saw Castiel’s weak form, Natasha trailed behind them to open the door of Dean and Castiel’s room for them.

“A long story. I will catch up with you later.” Dean replied tiredly. “Right now all I want is to sleep.”

“My clean bed, here I come.” Tony rejoiced as he grabbed Steve to drag him to their room.

***

A few days later, Dean was sitting on the brand new couch in the living room with Castiel’s head in his lap. Steve was reading on the other couch, while Sam rested on an armchair with his broken leg placed on the coffee table. Clint, Bucky and Natasha were trying to make something edible in the brand new kitchen but Dean didn’t have much hope for that to happen. Thor and Hulk were fighting it out in the gym, which explained the occasional shaking of the building.

Steve and Castiel’s healing factors worked their magic. Steve was almost completely healed and Castiel was just soar most of the time. Things were getting back to normal pretty fast. It was calm the past few days.

Of course, Dean had to ruin that calmness.

Tony entered the room after spending the whole day at SI for a business meeting that made him hate his life.

“Hey, Tony. How was work?” Steve asked with a gentle smile.

“Boring. As usual.” Tony sighed as he made his way towards Steve. “Please, tell me there is food.”

“Look over at the kitchen and you will get your answer.” Dean answered without bothering to look away from the TV.

Tony trailed his eyes towards the kitchen to see Natasha trying to choke the life out of Clint while Bucky put out the pan that was on fire.

“Okay, who wants pizza?” Tony asked cheerfully as he threw himself on the couch next to Steve.

A loud fart sound echoed through the room and everyone stared at Tony with wide eyes. Tony froze for a second before reaching under him and pulled out a fart bag. He stared at it for a second then glared at Dean, who was snickering uncontrollably.

“I totally knew you will sit there.” Dean laughed loudly, Castiel sat up to raise an unimpressed eyebrow at him.

Tony narrowed his eyes at him. Dean continued to laugh and reached for his unopened beer bottle to take a gulp from it, only to spit it all over his unsuspecting brother.

“Oh, right. I changed your beer with soapy water. Oops.” Tony smirked smugly as he watched Dean looking sheepishly at a glaring, wet Sam.

“Oh, you are so on, Stark. This is war!”

“God, no. Not again.” Steve groaned loudly and face palmed, making everyone burst out laughing much to his chagrin.

              

 

 

 

    

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Done!
> 
> Thanks to everyone who commented and left Kudos! your comments always makes my day better!
> 
> In the next part, you will know about the childhood friend Tony mentioned in this chapter. I will give you a hint: There will be a new, well-known ship to be added in this crossover series! 
> 
> Stay tuned for the next part!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! Please tell me what you think!


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